At 5:05pm Wednesday the gas tank is full, I’m armed with a
handful of CD’s and a bag of animal crackers, and I am off
– joining the more than 3.7 million Californians AAA estimates
will be hitting the roads this week for the Thanksgiving
holiday.
Gilroy – At 5:05pm Wednesday the gas tank is full, I’m armed with a handful of CD’s and a bag of animal crackers, and I am off – joining the more than 3.7 million Californians AAA estimates will be hitting the roads this week for the Thanksgiving holiday.
I was warned that taking 10th Street in Gilroy over Pacheco Pass during rush hour would be a nightmare. I was laughed at – even scorned for my decision to drive out to Casa de Fruta in Hollister as an experiment to see if Highway 152 traffic is as bad as people claim.
Turning onto 10th Street, the street is a sea of red tail lights. The man in the truck next to me wipes his eyes. We are in for a long ride.
Fifteen minutes later I have traveled about six feet and can see the Wendy’s sign glowing in the dark – a spicy chicken fillet sounds good. But that would mean taking a left turn, and then another left to get back into 10th Street traffic. I drive on towards McDonald’s.
At 5:20pm I punch the odometer as I pass Wendy’s smiling face. Fifteen minutes later, the odometer still reads 0.0 miles. I wonder if it is working.
I hit third gear for the first time 38 minutes later approaching Gilroy Foods. The odometer reads 1.2 miles. I do the math. At this pace I will get to Casa de Fruta in eight hours.
At 6:03pm I finish the last of my chocolate shake. Two minutes later I am beeped at. I have no idea why. I hear the first of a string of obscenities from the woman next to me. I look at her and realize she is not beeping at me, or at anyone else for that matter.
“When you have traffic situations like we will have this weekend, you see frustration and that’s when you can see road rage,” explained California Highway Patrol Officer Brad Voyles. “People get upset when somebody gets ahead of them, but you’re not getting there any quicker when you pass a car or two under those circumstances.”
More than an hour after leaving, I turn right on Highway 152. I have traveled about three miles and am now mad at everyone in the left lane driving faster than me. The cars behind me look like a string of white Christmas lights.
Gwen Stefani’s tour bus passes me at 6:29pm. I wonder what she has to say about all this traffic. I wonder if I am hallucinating.
Bored of the CD’s I selected, I start finding pieces of lettuce stuck to my seat from the Big Mac I ate earlier. I really need to clean my car.
At 6:57pm, I do some more math. If I had left on foot from Gilroy to Casa De Fruta I would be there by now.
I am told that the bumper to bumper mess is due to good Samaritan motorists stopping to let traffic turning onto Highway 156 from westbound Highway 152.
A $30-million construction plan selected by the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority to build a flyover taking eastbound traffic from Gilroy over the intersection and back on to 152 is designed to ease traffic congestion by directly connecting 152 westbound with 156.
I hope so.
Construction should begin next year now that funding is in place, despite a dispute between San Benito County officials and transportation planners over the best design.
More than 30 minutes later I finally pull into Casa de Fruta, feeling bitter from the drive and ill from the fast food.
The restaurant there is packed. People stretch as they get out cars and walk bleary-eyed to grab a cup of coffee before hitting the road again.
C.R. Allen stands reading a map on the sidewalk.
He left at 10am Wednesday morning with his wife from Los Angeles.
“The traffic was unbelievable,” he said. “We did great until we drove through that Gilroy. It took two and half hours. There are thousands of people on that road.”
They are headed to Sacramento to spend the holiday with their granddaughter and don’t appear too eager to back in the car.
“That was my first time driving (152) and I’m not going to drive it no more,” he said, his face reddening. “We’ll be in Sacramento in two hours and we’re not going back until next week.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him he could have taken I-5 the whole time and avoided the 152 snarl.
Hollister resident Matt Thrasher flew back from college in Arizona Wednesday morning and met up with high school friends at Casa de Fruta.
“It took two hours to get here from San Jose. It’s crazy,” he said smoking a cigarette outside his car. “I’ve heard (152) is full of traffic. I wasn’t about to drive (from Arizona). It’s supposed to be one of the busiest travel days of the season.”
According to statistics, Thanksgiving is the heaviest travel day of the year.
However, looking out the window from the restaurant you might guess otherwise.
“The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the heaviest traffic day of the year for this area,” said CHP Officer Brad Voyles, who has worked the area since 1985. “Plan to have lots of patience … On Pacheco Pass, expect the worst. As you near the outlets in Gilroy, be alert, as holiday shoppers will be out in force. The best advice I can give is to relax and enjoy those that you’re traveling with.”
After purchasing a large coffee I am ready to get back in the car and head back to Gilroy.
That took 18 minutes.
