Highway 246 Passing Lanes - Phase 2

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments - Project Delivery has issued request for proposal, solicitation 2026-RFP-035.

The limits of the proposed Phase 2 improvements will continue work on Highway 246 east of where the Phase 1 improvements were completed in 2018. The entire area is within the unincorporated area of the County of Santa Barbara and within Caltrans right of way. The project limits for Phase 2 are approximately four miles in length from Hapgood Road (East) to Domingos Road. Within these limits there are six designated public road intersections: at Hapgood (East) and (West); Santa Rita Road; Campbell Road, Drum Canyon/Mail Road and Domingos Road. Some improvements were made at the intersection of Hapgood Road (West) during Phase 1. There are also a multitude of private intersections with Highway 246, that provide ingress/egress to various agricultural operations (cattle, farming and vineyards). There are a number of parallel and cross drainage systems in this area, and a bridge over Santa Rosa Creek toward the eastern end of the project limits.

The Highway 246 Passing Lanes project was one of several regional highway projects included in the 2008 Measure A Investment Plan and was described with the following purpose: "Improve the traffic safety and operations on Highway 246 between Buellton and Lompoc by adding passing lanes and turning lanes between Purisima and Domingos Roads". In 2018, SBCAG completed a first phase of safety and operational on Highway 246, which included a passing lane, channelization improvements and a highway profile correction. The work was performed in collaboration with Caltrans, with Caltrans being the implementing agency for environmental, design and construction, and SBCAG being a sponsor through Measure A and Regional Improvement Program (RIP) funds. The approval of the 2025 Measure A Strategic Plan in November 2025 by the SBCAG board, included a commitment to continue to advance the work on the "Final Four" projects remaining in the Measure A Investment Plan, all within the North County subprogram of Measure A. The "Final Four" includes three interchanges improvements in the Santa Maria area, as well as the Highway 246 Passing Lanes – Phase 2. Furthermore, in June 2026, the SBCAG North County Subregional Planning Committee, with purview over the North County Program of Measure A, voted to direct staff to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to retain the services of a consultant team to complete the Project Approval & Environmental Document (PA&ED) scope for a Phase 2 project. Please see the meeting link for offeror reference: North County Subregional Planning Committee - Jun 10 2026 - Agenda - Html. SBCAG is desiring that Phase 2 focus on safety and operational improvements on Highway 246 for approximately four miles between Hapgood (West) on the west to Domingos Road on the east.

Responses are due October 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM PDT.

Questions must be submitted by September 21, 2026 at 4:00 PM PDT.

Contact: Fred Luna, Director Project Delivery and Construction (fluna@sbcag.org, (805) 961-8926).

4 documents are attached to the notice: Agreement Example; Project Report and Supplemental Project Report; Project Study Report; CaltransAgreement Draft_05-0488.

The full solicitation document, addenda and the question-and-answer thread are on the agency's OpenGov portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/sbcag/projects/296243. Responses are submitted electronically there, and a free vendor account is required before you can upload one.