Trucks to move from Santa Ana-McCray corridor to Hwy. 25 bypass
within three to four weeks
The truck route that used to take big rigs from San Felipe Road
to Santa Ana and over to Fourth Street via McCray is expected to be
officially be moved to the Hwy. 25 bypass within a month.
With the bypass in place for more than a year now, new signage
will soon direct truckers to take the bypass
– rather than San Felipe Road to Santa Ana – to get through
Hollister. They will still use Fourth Street to move westward by
taking the Meridian Street exit off the bypass, or they can travel
south to Union Road, which is a county truck route.
Trucks to move from Santa Ana-McCray corridor to Hwy. 25 bypass within three to four weeks
The truck route that used to take big rigs from San Felipe Road to Santa Ana and over to Fourth Street via McCray is expected to be officially be moved to the Hwy. 25 bypass within a month.
With the bypass in place for more than a year now, new signage will soon direct truckers to take the bypass – rather than San Felipe Road to Santa Ana – to get through Hollister. They will still use Fourth Street to move westward by taking the Meridian Street exit off the bypass, or they can travel south to Union Road, which is a county truck route.
“Within three or four weeks we will go through and remove existing signs and relocate or get new signs along the route,” said Hollister’s associate civil engineer, David Rubcic. “The main difference is that the Santa Ana-McCray route will no longer be the designated truck route.”
Trucks can leave the route for short distances to make deliveries, such as to grocery stores and the San Benito Foods cannery. Though some truck drivers inadvertently stray off the route and get caught trying to make a sharp turn at San Benito and Fourth streets in downtown Hollister, most know to avoid that section of town with large trucks, Rubcic said.
“Truckers really don’t like driving in a congested area such as downtown,” he said. “Sometimes truckers get lost and miss signs. We will sign the truck route to keep trucks out of residential areas east of the bypass, though people need to remember truckers sometimes won’t see signs and will be where they’re not supposed to be. If it happens on a regular basis, they need to let somebody know.”
Some trucks will be allowed to use the old Santa Ana to McCray route with a transportation permit from the city engineering department. Since San Benito Foods has a tomato delivery facility on San Felipe near Los Cuates Meat Market, some of its drivers will use the old route along Santa Ana to save time and fuel.
“It seems silly to make those trucks go so far out of their way,” Rubcic said. “That just increases delivery time and cost to the company.”
A portion of South Street from the bypass westward is designated as a truck route to accommodate cannery traffic as well.
Permits are also available through the city, Caltrans or the county for oversized trucks that need to travel outside of the truck route.
Tres Pinos-Nash Road on the western side of the bypass to the San Benito River is also a truck route because of industrial businesses there.
