The San Benito County Board of Supervisors put a proposed $8.5
million project to widen Union Road to four lanes on hold until
after the holidays.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors put a proposed $8.5 million project to widen Union Road to four lanes on hold until after the holidays.
During a public hearing, the Board decided to postpone discussions on establishing a new benefit area to pay for the project until Feb. 25.
“They put it off until they can look at the project some more,” Supervisor Rita Bowling said.
The proposed project would widen Union Road to four lanes from the San Benito River crossing to Highway 156. A portion of the cost would be paid for by assessing a fee of $6,925 to each of the 472 potentially developable lots in the benefit area. Any future homes built within the area would have to pay the nearly $7,000 fee as a contribution that would total $3.29 million toward the cost of the project.
If approved, residents who live along Union Road will also be required to pay for a portion of the project.
Bowling said that part of the project needs to be reconsidered and changed if possible.
“I don’t think it’s fair that only the people who live on the road have to pay for it,” Bowling said. “There are a lot of other people who use that road all the time.”
Bowling said since its creation, Union Road has been used regularly by an increasing number of motorists, not just people who live in the area.
“They are not the only ones impacting the road,” Bowling said. “There are people in Ridgemark, Tres Pinos and Paicines who use that road. I use it myself.”
With Union Road being used by so many residents, Bowling said it was unfair the cost for widening was not a shared one.
“There has to be some way of spreading that cost out to everybody who uses that road,” Bowling said.
The 20,000 linear feet of construction was proposed as a way of both improving safety along Union Road and providing needed improvements at several intersections.
The widening project, which would not begin for at least another five to 10 years, is part of a long-range plan that eventually includes widening the entire span of Union Road to four lanes, Public Works Director Doug Koenig said.
“If we don’t establish the benefit area today, there won’t be any money to pay for construction when we need it,” Koenig said. “Actually, we are a little bit behind in getting this started.”
At the Board’s request, Koenig and other staff members are currently reevaluating the proposed payment schedule to see if there is a way to spread the cost for the benefit area.
Koenig said the idea is for the county to get ahead of the growth curve and to plan for local needs beyond the present.
“The establishment of the benefit area is to pay for the direct impact of development in the area,” Koenig said. “Over the next 10 to 15 years there will be increased traffic on Union Road,”
Koenig said there are strong indications that the area on Union Road between Highway 156 and the Cienega Road intersection is a likely spot for possible future development.
The idea of creating a benefit area to help pay for special construction projects is nothing new.
“We’ve done a couple of these in the past few years,” Koenig said.
In July 2001, county officials established a benefit area on Spring Grove and Comstock roads. The benefit area was designed to help pay for both the widening of Comstock Road and the improvements at the intersection of Fairview and Comstock.
The improvements include a separate right-turn lane from Fairview Road into Comstock and a left-turn lane from Fairview Road onto Comstock Road.
Comstock Road will also be widened to provide 24 feet of pavement with a minimum of a 5-foot wide gravel shoulder.
In April, the county established a benefit area for a $245,000 construction project at Fairview and Fallon roads.
The benefit area is to help ease increased traffic in the area that will result from the construction of the Meadow Lanes subdivision, a minor subdivision made up of four homes.
The improvements include widening Fallon Road and adding left and right turn lanes on Fallon Road, Koenig said.
He said the improvements are needed to handle the increased volume of vehicles expected to use the intersection once the subdivision is completed.
