COG officials continue negotiations to transfer San Benito
Street from state to city jurisdiction
When going from one end of the city to the other, what a
difference in time a year makes.
The Hwy. 25 bypass opened in early February of last year after
more than two decades of planning, which began even before voters
approved Measure A in 1988 freeing up the necessary funds to get it
moving.
COG officials continue negotiations to transfer San Benito Street from state to city jurisdiction
When going from one end of the city to the other, what a difference in time a year makes.
The Hwy. 25 bypass opened in early February of last year after more than two decades of planning, which began even before voters approved Measure A in 1988 freeing up the necessary funds to get it moving.
“From my perspective, the bypass has been a pretty big success for Hollister and San Benito County residents,” said Lisa Rheinheimer, executive director for the Council of San Benito County Governments, which oversaw the project.
Although Rheinheimer said she has been surprised by the community’s heavy use of the bypass in the first year, she went on to talk about how future growth expectations play into such projects, how it’s equipped to handle those escalations.
“You build it so it will handle traffic flow now, but also in 20 years,” she said. “It may not look like a lot of traffic now. If you think of San Benito County in 20 years, you get the idea.”
Even so, a year after its completion and opening, it’s safe to say the $45 million, 2.6-mile road has improved traffic circulation in Hollister while providing infrastructure to meet future growth needs. But that was merely step one of the transformation. Step two is yet to come.
That involves the transfer of San Benito Street to the city’s jurisdiction and handing over the bypass to the state – which would set the stage for changes to the downtown, such as installing crosswalks, to make the district more pedestrian-friendly.
For now, though, the head of the county’s transportation authority’s staff believes the bypass – recently named project of the year by a regional public works association – already has helped improve the driving experience in Hollister while giving some relief to traffic congestion downtown.
The most significant effect of the bypass downtown won’t occur until the state and COG agree to terms on the transfer, expected in the next year.
“It can’t happen until the bypass is transferred,” Rheinheimer said.
Her office is handling negotiations with the state about the transfer. COG is putting together a “route transfer report” that it will submit to Caltrans with terms and conditions and reasoning behind the swap. It will include such data as technical information about traffic counts, an analysis on how the road is functioning a year after opening, speeds of vehicles and accident information from the California Highway Patrol, she noted.
As far as negotiations and changes the state might have to make to San Benito Street before COG OKs the transfer, Rheinheimer said she is “not at liberty to say” what those might be.
Without the transfer, Hollister Downtown Association Executive Director Brenda Weatherly said there has been a “lighter traffic pattern” and she said it “happened kind of gradually, not like night and day.”
She acknowledged, though, that getting San Benito Street into the city’s jurisdiction is necessary toward making improvements for pedestrian access, which she said helps to create an ambiance downtown.
“I think we’re all waiting. Everybody’s waiting for the next step,” Weatherly said.
And while the road has changed the dynamics of travel in Hollister quite a bit, it hasn’t had much of an effect on response times for emergency personnel in the fire department. Chief Fred Cheshire noted how the stoplights at intersections have preemptive devices attached so the fire engines can prompt them to turn green when they approach.
Mostly, it comes into play when fire crews are traveling east and west, when they have to cross the bypass. If they had to travel north and south, he said it would be “way faster” than through city streets. But because it’s “set off to the side,” they don’t tend to use it much in those directions, he said.
COG officials had estimated the transfer of San Benito Street to the city, and the coinciding transfer of the bypass to the state, would occur about 18 months from the time of the roadway’s completion. The goal remains the same for COG, which would mean the transfer should occur in August or September.
