The first traffic signals in Guadalupe and a new bridge over the Santa Maria River will welcome drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists in the coming years under several planned projects for the west side of the Santa Maria Valley.
More than 50 people showed up when Caltrans held an informational meeting last week to spell out the various projects that John Olejnik, planning chief for Caltrans District 5, called transformative for the Guadalupe area.
“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that brought us here tonight,” Olejnik said, adding that Caltrans staff wanted to answer residents’ questions and hear their feedback on the plans.
Replacement of the Highway 1 bridge over the Santa Maria River includes an area for bicyclists, with construction starting as soon as spring 2025 and continuing for the next four years.
One woman asked about the impact on those who regularly travel along Highway 1 between Guadalupe and San Luis Obispo County, noting a Santa Barbara County project at the Bonita School Road crossing.
“Our project does not intend to detour at any point, so traffic will remain operational throughout construction,” Caltrans’ Ben Jensen said.
Instead, work on the new bridge will take place east of the existing structure, which would be removed once the new crossing has been built.
Recognizing that four overlapping projects could be merged, Caltrans partnered with the City of Guadalupe and the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments to consolidate the various improvements under one umbrella led by Caltrans.
The 1,200-foot-long bridge was built in 1955 and seismically retrofitted in 1998, but inspections have revealed that the span’s structural integrity has deteriorated, according to permit documents.
The Guadalupe Active Partnership for Signalization and Capital Maintenance to Santa Maria will lead the installation of traffic signals at the intersection of Highways 1 and 166 plus Highway 166 and Obispo Street.
It also would include adding curb ramps, improving drainage systems and installing sidewalks along 166 from Highway 1 to Flower Street at the eastern edge of Guadalupe with some improvements extending to Highway 101 in Santa Maria.
That $35 million project is in the middle of the environmental review phase. Construction would occur in spring 2027 through fall 2028.
Another project would focus on making sidewalks accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act along Highway 1 to 11th Street and east on Highway 166 to Obispo Street.
Caltrans representatives received a clear message that bulb-outs on Highway 1 through the town aren’t popular as people with businesses and organizations on the city’s main route complained about lost parking.
When one resident asked if a project would remove the bulb-outs, or curb extensions aimed at protecting pedestrians and slowing traffic, several others in room agreed, saying out loud, “Please.”
“We understand that the bulb-outs may not have worked as originally intended, so we’re working with the city right now to discuss that,” Hallie Holden of Caltrans said.
The potential impact of the work on parking along Highway 1 in downtown Guadalupe also raised concerns, but Caltrans staff said they were still finalizing the schedule and aim to avoid consistent closures during the work.
Another Guadalupe work area includes installing rumble strips, updating guardrails, relocating utility poles and widening shoulders on Highway 1 between Guadalupe and Orcutt, with the $15 million work set from fall 2024 to spring 2026.
Another maintenance project calls for pavement preservation along 20 miles of Highway 1 between Oceano and the Santa Maria River bridge with upgraded drainage systems and guardrails plus accessibility features. Work is planned to start in late 2027 with a $16.5 million price tag.
Guadalupe residents may notice another project along a popular route east of town, although it wasn’t mentioned at the meeting.
The long-planned installation of traffic signals at the intersection of Highway 166 and Black Road could start later this year, according to the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments schedule.