California State Route 154
{{short description|Highway in California}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox road
|state=CA
|type=SR
|route=154
|section=454
|maint=Caltrans
|map_notes=SR 154 highlighted in red
|length_mi=32.30
|length_round=2
|restrictions=No hazardous material along the segment through the San Marcos Pass between SR 246 and US 101{{cite web | url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/engineering/trucks/routes/restrict-list.htm | title=Special Route Restrictions | publisher=Caltrans | access-date=2014-07-28}}
|direction_a=West
|terminus_a={{jct|state=CA|US|101|SR|1}} near Los Olivos
|junction={{plainlist|
- {{jct|state=CA|SR|246}} in Santa Ynez
- {{jct|state=CA|SR|192}} near Santa Barbara
}}
|tourist=File:California Scenic State.svg San Marcos Pass Road
|direction_b=East
|terminus_b={{jct|state=CA|US|101}} in Santa Barbara
|counties=Santa Barbara
|previous_type=SR
|previous_route=153
|next_type=SR
|next_route=155
}}
State Route 154 (SR 154) (also known as the Chumash Highway[http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0051-0100/acr_75_bill_20070823_introduced.pdf ACR 75] or unofficially as San Marcos Pass Road after the signage) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Los Olivos to Santa Barbara, crossing the San Marcos Pass in the Santa Ynez Mountains. Before U.S. Route 101 was built through the Gaviota Pass, SR 154 was the main throughway to Santa Barbara and the tri city area including use as a stagecoach route in early years. After being replaced by US 101 as the primary route between the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara, SR 154 now serves as a scenic bypass.
Route description
It is a two-lane road with some passing lanes, with the highest altitude being 2000 ft. It rivals US 101 for traffic, but it goes through the Los Padres National Forest and the San Marcos Pass. It starts in Los Olivos as a spur from US 101, goes through the town, and then the end of SR 246 at Santa Ynez. It then reaches Lake Cachuma and passes through the Los Padres National Forest, and across the Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge, where Cold Spring Tavern is on Stagecoach Road which passes below the bridge. Nearby it crosses Camino Cielo Road to the east and west, then the intersection of Painted Cave Road and Old San Marcos Road before descending to Santa Barbara. It then briefly becomes a super-two freeway and passes an interchange for SR 192 (named Foothill Road to the east and Cathedral Oaks Road to the west of SR 154), before stopping at Calle Real and a southbound onramp to US 101 and ending at the point where State Street to the east becomes Hollister Avenue to the west.
SR 154 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System,{{CAFESystem}} and a portion in Santa Barbara is part of the National Highway System,{{FHWA NHS map|region=californiasouth|accessdate=September 24, 2017}} a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.{{FHWA NHS}} SR 154 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System,{{CA scenic}} and is officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation,{{Caltrans scenic|accessdate=September 24, 2017}} meaning that it is a substantial section of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community.{{Caltrans scenic info}}
History
The highway from Santa Barbara through San Marcos Pass to what was Route 2 was added to the state highway system in 1931.{{cite CAstat|year=1931|ch=82}} The route renumbered to SR 154 by the 1964 state highway renumbering.{{cite CAstat|year=1963|ch=385}}
On the short super-two freeway section of SR 154, the interchange with SR 192 is numbered as exit 32, despite the route not being listed on Caltrans' Cal-NExUS webpage.{{cite web | url=https://dot.ca.gov/programs/safety-programs/exit | title=Exit Numbering - CA Numbered Exit Uniform System | publisher=Caltrans | access-date=March 2, 2025}}{{cite web | url=https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4473363,-119.7599584,3a,38y,19.89h,92.78t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1si8UUBrrBR7DpXMJrSUgdgQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-2.7775884136890596%26panoid%3Di8UUBrrBR7DpXMJrSUgdgQ%26yaw%3D19.89214106444158!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIyNi4xIKXMDSoJLDEwMjExNDUzSAFQAw%3D%3D | title=Westbound SR 154 at SR 192 (exit 32) | publisher=Google Maps / Google Street View | date=July 2023 | access-date=March 2, 2025}}
Major intersections
{{CAinttop|exit|county=Santa Barbara|post_ref=
{{Caltrans bridgelog|date=April 2008}}California Department of Transportation, [http://traffic-counts.dot.ca.gov/ All Traffic Volumes on CSHS], 2007|exit_ref=
}}
{{Jctint|exit
|location_special=Zaca Station
|postmile=R0.00
|road={{Jct|state=CA|US|101|city1=Santa Maria|city2=Santa Barbara}}
|notes=Interchange; west end of SR 154; US 101 exit 146
}}
{{CAint|exit
|location=Santa Ynez
|postmile=R8.11
|road={{Jct|state=CA|SR|246|dir1=west|city1=Santa Ynez|city2=Solvang|city3=Buellton|road|Armour Ranch Road}}
|notes=Roundabout
}}
{{Jctplace|exit
|state=CA
|location=none
|postmile=22.96
|place=Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge
}}
{{Jctplace|exit
|state=CA
|location=none
|place=San Marcos Pass, elevation {{Convert|2181|ft}}{{cite web|publisher=California Department of Transportation|title=Elevation and Location of Summits and Passes in California|url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/data_library/archives/summit.xls|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301032752/http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/data_library/archives/summit.xls|archivedate=March 1, 2017}}
}}
{{Jctplace|exit
|state=CA
|location=none
|postmile=
|place=West end of freeway
}}
{{CAint|exit
|location=none
|postmile=R31.55
|exit=32
|road={{Jct|state=CA|SR|192|dir1=east|name1=Foothill Road|road|Cathedral Oaks Road}}
|notes=
}}
{{Jctplace|exit
|state=CA
|location=none
|postmile=
|place=East end of freeway
}}
{{CAint|exit
|location=Santa Barbara
|lspan=2
|postmile=32.28
|road={{Jct|state=CA|US|101|name1=SR 1}}
|notes=Interchange; east end of SR 154; US 101 exit 101B
}}
{{CAint|exit
|postmile=32.28
|road=State Street
|notes=Continuation beyond US 101
}}
{{Jctbtm}}
See also
- {{portal-inline|California Roads}}
- San Marcos Pass
- Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge
- Cold Spring Tavern
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Attached KML|display=inline,title}}
{{commons category}}
{{CASR external links|SR|154}}
- [http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LandArch/scenic_highways/route154.htm Caltrans: Route 154 - Scenic Highway]
- [http://www.cahighways.org/153-160.html#154 California Highways: Route 154]
- [http://www.aaroads.com/california/ca-154.html California @ AARoads.com - State Route 154]
Category:Historic trails and roads in California