An eagerly-anticipated road project has ignited a border
skirmish between Santa Clara County transportation planners and San
Benito County officials who say a flaw in the project’s design will
flood their roads with truck traffic.
An eagerly-anticipated road project has ignited a border skirmish between Santa Clara County transportation planners and San Benito County officials who say a flaw in the project’s design will flood their roads with truck traffic.
“There’s no question (this is) going to be a problem with inter-regional traffic and there’s no future planning to accommodate this traffic,” San Benito County Supervisor Anthony Botelho said Wednesday. “We have a mutual problem and we’re not working very well to address it.”
At issue is the flyover ramp for the intersections of highways 152 and 156, a $28.4 million project that transportation planners and frustrated motorists have been clamoring for for years that is finally ready to move forward.
Botelho and other representatives from San Benito County’s Council of Governments are complaining that the project will turn westbound 156 into the major truck route between the Central Valley and Highway 101 because the project’s design will make 152 appear to be an off-ramp from the main thoroughfare.
“The way we see it, what they have in mind is the quickest route to 101,” Botelho said. “The way the project is designed encourages more traffic into our county. If you’re in a truck, which route would you prefer?”
John Ristow, a director with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said Botelho’s fear is unfounded and that the project will improve traffic south of Gilroy.
“That will not happen,” Ristow said. “There’s no reason that anyone traveling from the Central Valley to Gilroy will go into Hollister or San Benito County. They will stay on 152 and head into Gilroy.”
The purpose of the project is to ease congestion of eastbound 152 traffic, which often backs up 13 miles to 101 on weekends and holidays. In the current configuration, westbound 156 travelers must stop at the intersection. Good Samaritan drivers on 152 often stop to allow that traffic to pass, turning the stretch between Gilroy and the intersection into a two-hour stop-and-go headache.
In theory, Ristow said, Gilroy drivers who now try to avoid the backup by taking a long cut through San Benito County will stick to 152, removing a burden from highways 25 and 156.
“There won’t be any reason for traffic to be diverted,” he said. “Drivers won’t be trying to avoid the intersection.”
The flyover will direct eastbound traffic over the intersection and make the stop sign unnecessary. Removing the stop sign will make it easier to follow 156 into Hollister, but Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage said that drivers who don’t have a concrete reason to go to San Benito County will always prefer 152 because it’s faster than connecting with 101 near San Juan Bautista or via 156 and 25.
“You’re not going to have anymore people going there than were going there before,” Gage said. “People take 156 because they have a purpose and not just to find a cutoff to 101. You’d have to go all the way to San Juan or 25. Why would you want to do that?”
Ristow believes Botelho’s reservations are the result of a misunderstanding. The design plans make westbound 152 appear to be an off ramp of westbound 156, but Ristow said the roads will be of equal width and traffic will flow freely on each. He said the VTA will soon address San Benito County’s concerns about the design.
“It’s good they’re asking these tough questions because these are the things they need to know,” Ristow said. “What’s perplexing is that we thought they had taken a position of support on this.”
Construction of the flyover should begin next year now that all of its funding is in place. Last week, Congress finally approved a $286 billion transportation bill that includes $11.9 million for the project, and earlier this summer Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a budget that includes about $11.5 million for the flyover.
Gage said Monday that he’s thrilled the checks are all but signed.
“It’s like having sugar on your cereal,” he said.
