San Juan Bautista residents are planning to hit the picket lines
today in protest of the proposed Highway 156 widening project
planned by the California Department of Transportation.
San Juan Bautista residents are planning to hit the picket lines today in protest of the proposed Highway 156 widening project planned by the California Department of Transportation.
An e-mail credited to Colleen Johnson and San Juan Mayor George Dias has circulated over the last week that asks volunteers to bring friends, neighbors and signs to the intersection of The Alameda and Highway 156 from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday.
For several years, CalTrans has had plans in the works to widen a five-mile stretch of road from San Juan Bautista to Hollister from two lanes to four. The project, while supported by the San Benito County Board of Supervisors and the Council Of San Benito County Governments has seen strong opposition from San Juan residents who think the highway will have a negative effect on their small town.
CalTrans spokesman Colin Jones said the environmental impact statement for the project is currently being finished and construction would most likely not happen until 2011 or 2012. He said anytime there is a proposal to widen a highway, a certain amount of opposition surfaces. But in this case, he said the project would have an “overall benefit” to the people of San Juan.
San Benito County Supervisor Anthony Botelho said he supports the widening project, but only if it is done with the “smallest environmental footprint possible” – something he said CalTrans had not shown it would do.
