California State Route 246

State Route 246
Map of Santa Barbara County in southern California with SR 246 highlighted in red
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 546
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	26 mi[1] (42 km)
Restrictions:	No trucks over 3 short tons (2.7 t) through Lompoc[2]
Major junctions
West end:	Lompoc west city limit
East end:	SR 154 in Santa Ynez
Location
Counties:	Santa Barbara
Highway system
State highways in California Interstate U.S. State Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← SR 245 SR 247 →

State Route 246 (SR 246) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs from Lompoc east to Santa Ynez, cutting through the Santa Barbara Wine Country.

Route description

Most of the road is two lanes wide, with the exception of the route through the cities of Lompoc and Buellton. This is the primary route from U.S. Route 101 to Solvang, one of the Santa Ynez Valley's biggest tourist attractions. It follows the Santa Ynez River for most of its length. The portion of the route through Solvang is called Mission Drive, while through Lompoc—where is co-signed with State Route 1—it is called Ocean Avenue. SR 246 was defined all the way to Surf, but in 1984, it was truncated to SR 1 (known as H Street in Lompoc.) SR 246 then leads northeast out of Lompoc along a relatively flat two-lane road until reaching Buellton, where it widens upon its intersection with US 101. It narrows once again to two lanes through Solvang and Santa Ynez before reaching its eastern terminus at the junction with State Route 154. This is the main alternate route from Northern Santa Barbara County to the South Coast, and it is a pleasant drive for those who want to avoid the heavy truck traffic on US 101. It is also notable for passing two of Santa Barbara County's three Spanish-era missions, Santa Inés (in Solvang) and La Purísima Concepción (near Lompoc).

History

In 1933, this was designated as a state highway,^[3] and was numbered as Route 149 in 1935.^[4] In 1963, it was part of State Route 154. In the 1964 state highway renumbering, it was renumbered to SR 246.^[5] SR 246 used to run all the way west to Surf, but this segment was relinquished to local control in 1984.

Sign on California Route 246.

Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on its original western terminus in Surf, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions).^[6] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Santa Barbara County.

Location	Postmile [6][7][8]	Destinations	Notes
Lompoc	8.30	Ocean Avenue – NASA/Vandenberg AFB South Gate, Surf	Continuation beyond west end of SR 246 at the Lompoc west city limit
	9.55 19.25[N 1]	SR 1 north (H Street) – Vandenberg AFB, Guadalupe, Orcutt, Santa Maria	West end of SR 1 overlap
	20.57[N 1] 9.56	SR 1 south / 12th Street – Santa Barbara	East end of SR 1 overlap
Buellton	26.29	US 101	Interchange
Solvang	30.28	Alamo Pintado Road – Ballard, Los Olivos
​	R34.60	SR 154 – Los Olivos, Cachuma Lake, Santa Barbara	East end of SR 246
​	R34.60	Armour Ranch Road	Continuation beyond SR 154
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

External links