I wish to concur with your editorial response on the widening of
Highway 156 for a safer road that will benefit all travelers that
use the presently outdated two-lane roadway. As a resident of San
Juan Valley, I use Highway 156 daily and find it to be unsafe,
congested and obsolete to the volume of vehicles that travel on it
daily.
I wish to concur with your editorial response on the widening of Highway 156 for a safer road that will benefit all travelers that use the presently outdated two-lane roadway. As a resident of San Juan Valley, I use Highway 156 daily and find it to be unsafe, congested and obsolete to the volume of vehicles that travel on it daily.
With all due respect to some of the citizens of San Juan Bautista and San Juan Valley who have opposing views, we must address an immediate alternative to improve the existing design and safety of Highway 156 within the shortest time possible – NOW!
Presently, the stretch of Highway 156 between San Juan Bautista and Union Road intersections is a distance of approximately four miles. At its present alignment, it is close to a straight line, the shortest distance between two points. When traffic conditions become congested on Highway 156, many of the travelers take alternate routes on roads through San Juan Valley and travel at speeds totally unsafe for the narrow roads of the valley. The increased use of these old country road designs increase the deterioration of conditions and become a more costly burden for our county. With a more improved Highway 156, the traffic would be reduced and safer conditions would prevail for the use of its present valley residents.
Today, we are all aware of the problems of Highway 156 and want an immediate solution. Is it not more desirable to work with COG and CalTrans to facilitate another highway alternative for Highway 156 between Union Road and San Juan Bautista? If the existing two lane road was widened to a four lane expressway (not a four lane freeway with a frontage road), with the road expansion taking place on the south side of the highway, the right-of-ways, design, finance and construction would occur in a shorter time frame and be more cost effective. In addition, other incorporated safety features to the expressway could include:
1. Wider turn out lanes at exiting; location of Bixby, Lucy Brown Lane and others.
2. Improved lighting and signage at existing turn out locations.
3. Widen shoulders of the road for emergency stops.
4. Improved roadside drainage that would prevent flooding and also facilitate better drainage of the San Juan Valley.
Collectively, all these road improvements of Highway 156 would be safer for a project that would be constructed in less time and cost effective for all taxpayers. We need road safety now! Time is of the essence and we cannot wait 15 to 20 years for the freeway system to be constructed in the Flint Hills.
Anthony Freitas,
Candidate for District 2 Supervisor
