Hollister – The projected August start date of the long-delayed
Highway 25 bypass has come and gone, but Mary Dinkuhn,
transportation planner for the San Benito County Council of
Governments, said she’s confident that construction will start by
early January.
Hollister – The projected August start date of the long-delayed Highway 25 bypass has come and gone, but Mary Dinkuhn, transportation planner for the San Benito County Council of Governments, said she’s confident that construction will start by early January.
“I can’t point to one specific issue (causing the delay),” Dinkuhn said. “A few outstanding things just couldn’t be resolved on time.”
The $43 million project will create a new leg of Highway 25 that bypasses downtown Hollister. Construction was initially scheduled to begin in June 2005, but was delayed when owners of land needed for the project said they weren’t being offered enough money, and some even threatened legal action. COG made new offers on the land; these offers are confidential.
The project hit another speed bump earlier this year, when Tom Quigley, at that time the executive director of COG, announced a $15.5 million budget shortfall caused by the rising costs of fuel, construction and land. After some squabbling, both the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors voted to chip in extra funds.
Some of the city funding could come, if necessary, from diverting funds set aside for the North Street extension project scheduled for spring 2007. City Manager Clint Quilter said the city won’t know if those funds are necessary until construction companies start making bids for the project.
The project recently benefited from an additional $7 million from the California Transportation Commission, which Dinkuhn said would go towards construction costs.
She added that COG, which is managing the project, is currently working on accommodation proceedings with property owners. The bypass still needs to be certified by the California Department of Transportation, and COG still needs to solicit bids from construction companies. Dinkuhn hopes to have a construction firm signed on by December, and she said that even with holiday delays, “it should definitely get started after the first of the year.”
When asked whether he agreed with Dinkuhn’s timeline, Quilter said he isn’t familiar with all project’s issues, but added, “We’ve been awfully close before, so I see no reason why that wouldn’t be the case.”
Once work begins, Dinkuhn said construction should last 18 months. Taking possible complications into account, she estimated that the project will be completed within two years.
Anthony Ha covers city and county government for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 637-5566 ext. 330.
