Caltrans will begin installing guard rails Monday along Highway
156 from San Juan Bautista and to Fairview Avenue.
Hollister – Caltrans will begin installing guard rails Monday along Highway 156 from San Juan Bautista and to Fairview Avenue.
Work on the $414,000 project will take place Monday through Thursday from 8am to 4pm. It is scheduled for completion by October 1.
The guard rails will not run along the entire highway, but will be placed in carefully selected locations. Spokesperson Colin Jones explained that the sections of the highway receiving guard rails are chosen based on traffic and accident rates. He did not have specific numbers of accidents that have occurred on the road.
Caltrans hopes the guard rails will enhance motorist safety by preventing cars from drifting off the road.
During work hours, right lanes in both directions will be shut down on sections of the highway with four lanes, creating about a five minute delay, according to Jones. On sections with just two lanes, one lane will be closed, and a flagman will control traffic. On those sections, motorists should expect delays of five to 10 minutes, Jones said.
Increased traffic is another reason Caltrans is installing the guard rails.
“That area is growing, urbanizing, and there’s more traffic,” he said. “It’s (Highway 156) unlikely to be widened in the future. That doesn’t mean we don’t go out and improve rideability of the highway and safety. It’s a main connector to San Juan Bautista and Hollister from the Monterey Peninsula.”
Fines for traffic violations will be doubled in the construction area, Jones said.
“We ask everyone to slow for the cone zone,” he said. “I like to think the majority of the traveling public do that. But it only takes one person driving recklessly … to cause an accident”
