I regret that I was not able to attend last week’s Caltrans
‚ meeting to discuss Highways 156, 25 and the 3-in-1 project,
which I guess Caltrans had, and continues to have, no interest in
hearing about let alone discussing.
Editor,
I regret that I was not able to attend last week’s Caltrans‚ meeting to discuss Highways 156, 25 and the 3-in-1 project, which I guess Caltrans had, and continues to have, no interest in hearing about let alone discussing.
Recently, I have had a chance to read the DMB report on its tentative findings relative to its El Rancho San Benito development. It’s well-researched and presented a thoughtful and holistic analysis of its development issues and challenges, both for DMB and the county. That report particularly highlights the necessity of tackling the highway issues of San Benito County as a top priority along with fixing Hollister’s sewage mess!
Despite learning that one in four county residents object to growth on any terms, I believe the county as a whole community must plan for growth because it has no choice. It will grow by someone else’s plan or by its own. Experience shows that the county must learn to plan better than it has. The one in four must learn that they live in California and California is growing.
And if planning is on our doorsteps, highway planning is the foundation. San Benito County (and south Santa Clara County) share the gateway between 101 and I-5. That is the dominant feature of our piece of California. It is like the Mississippi for the United States, or the Rhine for Germany, France and the Low Countries of Europe. Take those rivers out and these areas would have developed in different ways.
This gateway is woefully planned, unplanned and undeveloped, as both the county and Santa Clara County know. Caltrans doesn’t really care. They’re in the road business, not “county building.” But we do care, because as the highways go, so goes the values of our landscape. The 152, 156, 25 web just does not work, and it is exasperating to drive these paths.
Of course, when Caltrans throws out a $1 billion figure for the 3-in-1 project, one must catch his/her breath before proceeding. Nonetheless, DMB’s research indicates that the full-blown Caltrans scheme for Highway 25, at some time in the unscheduled future by the way, will come in at $400 million. The picture looks more like a landscape of options rather than Caltrans‚ single take-it-or-leave-it choice. If the costs of four lanes for 156 and 152 are also added in then we are looking at apples and apples.
Another item the DMB report discusses is something that Board of Supervisors should move on – a supplemental tax for transportation. Apparently, this county rejected that approach some years ago, a decision that now handicaps it in planning for highways. The people, at least the other three out of four, would, I believe, see the wisdom in establishing and building this fund. If we don’t, any representative of the county who seeks to influence Caltrans or our legislative representatives will be dealing with both hands tied behind his/her back.
The 3-in-1 option makes sense to me. And it would be to Santa Clara County’s benefit as well. So the only true political obstacle is Caltrans. Money is a problem no matter which alternative is chosen. So it seems to me that the political issues are the ones that must be addressed now, and in this order: 1) What is best for the long-term, virtually permanent geography of the 101 – I-5 corridor that we share with Santa Clara County? 2) What is a reasonable timetable for development of necessary infrastructure and business and housing for this county?
Before anyone answers the last question, it seems clear that we are talking five to 10 years before this county can get serious about going much beyond the 1 percent growth limit everyone complains about, but no one can do much about. So the idea of throwing money at 156 and 25 to “safely” accommodate increased loads of commuter traffic is simply silly. What we should do is make them safe for slow speeds – that’s right, truckers and the impatient among us, 55mph is the law – while preparing for the growth that will inevitably come.
Richard Morris, San Juan Bautista
