The long wait for the installation of a traffic signal and other safety measures at a busy intersection between Santa Maria and Guadalupe will end with the start of construction next week.

Work for the new traffic signal and other safety improvements at the intersection of Highway 166 (West Main Street) and Black Road will begin Monday, according to Santa Barbara County Association of Governments representatives. 

“We’re here to present good news about finally starting construction at that location,” Fred Luna, SBCAG director of project delivery and construction, told the Guadalupe City Council Tuesday night. 

“This is to improve safety and traffic flow on the highly congested road,” Lauren Bianchi Klemann, SBCAG government affairs/public information manager, told the Santa Maria City Council earlier in June.

Community members have been asking for safety improvements along Highway 166 for years, she added. 

Measure A, a sales tax increase for regional and local road and transportation projects, will provide funding for the project. 

The $2.53 million project is one of four Measure A-funded projects on Highway 166 to improve safety and operations. 

Currently, there’s just one stop sign on Black Road so turning on the two-lane highway can be difficult and even dangerous.

Along with the traffic signal, the project will add dedicated turn lanes on Highway 166 and Black Road, lighting and reflective pavement marking to highlight visibility, drainage and flood control improvements on surrounding streets. 

Work will be completed in five months over two phases, with Black Road as the first step and Highway 166 as the second. 

After experiencing multiple delays including some eleventh-hour permitting and other issues that kept construction from starting earlier this year, the project should be done by late 2024 or early 2025.

Highway 166, a key road linking Guadalupe and Santa Maria while also providing access to acres of farm fields, will remain open during the project that involves SBCAG and Caltrans.

A section of Black Road near 166 will be closed for four weeks, starting around July 10, Luna said. Signs will direct drivers for the detour. 

During the project’s second phase, Highway 166 drivers can expect one-way traffic control. 

The project also calls for traffic control at the entrance to Main Street Produce, which sits on the north side of Highway 166 at Black Road. 

Discussions about a project to improve safety at the Highway 166/Black Road intersection included the possible installation of a roundabout, an unpopular option. 

The intersection sees a combination of heavy-duty farm trucks, tractors, towed farm implements, refrigerated semi-trucks and passenger vehicles. 

SBACAG’s  North County Subregional Planning Committee unanimously favored a traffic signal. 

Along with being unpopular, a roundabout would have cost twice as much as a traffic signal and taken even longer to install.

“I don’t think we got one public comment that said yes, we would like a roundabout,” Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino recalled recently, adding the stakeholder groups vehemently opposed the roundabout.

“We’ll have signalization going in there and hopefully this will be a safer road,” Patino said. 

“We’re really pleased to bring a project that the community wanted to this area and funded,” Bianchi Klemann said. 

“And needed, badly needed,” Patino added.

“I’m looking forward to the completion of this project,” Guadalupe Councilmember Christine Hernandez said Tuesday after hearing the SBCAG update during the small city’s meeting.

Guadalupe Mayor Ariston Julian also welcomed the report that the project is ready to go.

“It’s been awhile,” Julian added. 

SBCAG also plans to launch a Highway 166 safety corridor study that will assess future improvements for the area while consulting leaders and residents.