The board of directors of the San Benito County Council of
Governments took no action Thursday pertaining to the proposed
flyover at the intersection of highways 152 and 156. But the board
is still waiting for a response to concerns it raised about the
design.
Hollister – The board of directors of the San Benito County Council of Governments took no action Thursday pertaining to the proposed flyover at the intersection of highways 152 and 156. But the board is still waiting for a response to concerns it raised about the design.
Last month both COG and the board of supervisors sent letters to Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Authority raising concerns about the VTA-chosen design for the 152/156 flyover.
“We have not received a formal response letter from VTA,” COG Traffic Planner Mary Dinkuhn said at the meeting Thursday.
Though board members think the flyover is needed, many feel that the Santa Clara County traffic planners are not taking seriously their concerns that the VTA flyover design will funnel more traffic into San Benito County.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage has said that delays to the project will result in a loss of state and federal funding for the flyover.
“This board is not intending to delay or kill the project,” said Supervisor Anthony Botelho, who sits on the COG board. “But our concerns should have been accounted for.”
Botelho also said that Santa Clara and San Benito counties must look at traffic as a regional rather than a county issue.
According to Supervisor Pat Loe, who sits on the COG board, the VTA agreed to include a COG-preferred alternative design in a recently released environmental impact report. The design was not addressed in that document.
“We have to know why that alternative has been scrapped,” she said. “All they have to do is disclose those answers in this environmental document.”
Councilman Robert Scattini, also a COG board member, said he’s had enough of the delay and wants to see the VTA design get built.
“We need to go with it,” he said.
