# California State Route 246

State Route 246 (SR 246) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Lompoc east to Solvang and Santa Ynez, cutting through the Santa Ynez Valley and the Santa Barbara Wine Country. Its western terminus is at the western city limits of Lompoc, and its eastern terminus is at State Route 154 near Santa Ynez.

## 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. 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—including the portion where it is co-signed with State Route 1—it is called Ocean Avenue.
SR 246 begins at the western city limits of Lompoc, where it runs along Ocean Avenue to H Street, joining SR 1. The SR 246/SR 1 concurrency continues east along Ocean Avenue to the eastern edge of the city. SR 246 then splits from SR 1 and heads 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.
SR 246 passes two of Santa Barbara County's Spanish-era missions, La Purísima Concepción near Lompoc, and Santa Inés in Solvang.
Part of SR 246 in Lompoc is in the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.

## History

In 1933, this was designated as a state highway, and was numbered as Route 149 in 1935. In 1963, it was part of State Route 154. In the 1964 state highway renumbering, it was renumbered to SR 246. SR 246 used to run all the way west to Surf, but this segment along Ocean Avenue to the western city limits of Lompoc was relinquished to local control in 1984.

## Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Santa Barbara County.
| Location | Postmile | Destinations | Notes |
| Lompoc | 8.30 | Ocean Avenue – NASA/Vandenberg SFB South Gate, Surf | Continuation beyond west end of SR 246 at the Lompoc west city limit |
| Lompoc | 9.5519.25 | SR 1 north (H Street) – Vandenberg SFB, Guadalupe, Orcutt, Santa Maria | West end of SR 1 overlap |
| Lompoc | 20.579.56 | SR 1 south / 12th Street – Santa Barbara | East end of SR 1 overlap |
| Buellton | 26.29 | US 101 | Interchange; US 101 exit 140A |
| Solvang | 30.28 | Alamo Pintado Road – Ballard, Los Olivos | |
| ​ | R34.60 | SR 154 – Los Olivos, Cachuma Lake, Santa Barbara | Roundabout; 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 ||||
* 1 2 Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along SR 1 rather than SR 246.