Although funding is sparse, San Benito County hopes to break
ground on $242 million in road projects in the next 10 years,
including recent plans to fund safety improvements on dangerous
sections of Highway 156.
Although funding is sparse, San Benito County hopes to break ground on $242 million in road projects in the next 10 years, including recent plans to fund safety improvements on dangerous sections of Highway 156.
The Council of Governments approved its Regional Transportation Plan – a state requirement that maps out priority road projects and their costs – at its meeting April 22.
At the top of the list are state highways 25 and 156 demanding most of the work, coming in at an estimated $189 million. The two roadways are notorious for high vehicle accident frequencies.
COG officials estimated – based on an average of previous years’ allocations – how much funding could be allocated to San Benito County projects. Funding sources for local road projects have included federal, state, city and county agencies.
Overall, out of 24 projects, 13 were classified as “financially constrained.”
“When we say financially constrained, it means we have reasonable assurance we’ll have the money in the next 10 years.”
Officials classified another 11 projects as “financially unconstrained” – which Transportation Planner Lisa Rheinheimer referred to as a “wish list.”
But Caltrans, like most state agencies, has fallen on particularly hard times the past couple years. Its funding ability has declined significantly, leaving local officials skeptical about future financing, yet hopeful the trend may shift soon.
The state requires an updated Regional Transportation Plan every four years. Last time around in 2001, county officials were “overly optimistic” with their projections, Rheinheimer said. That year, projects expected to break ground within 10 years accounted for $269 million, far more than San Benito projects will likely encompass by 2011, she said.
“The reality is, in this funding situation,” Rheinheimer said, “that we really have to look hard at our projects and decide which ones we can push back a little bit more.”
“The thing is,” City Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia said, “We have to come up with a plan, whether we have the money or not.”
Most recently among the projects, Caltrans began exploring design possibilities for safety enhancements on Highway 156, on which 81 accidents occurred between May 2000 and April 2003, according to Caltrans.
Proposed Highway 156 safety improvements presented at Thursday’s COG meeting include such changes as shoulder widening and cultivation of safer intersections at San Juan Road, Lucy Brown Lane, Bixby Road and Union Road.
Rheinheimer said the “biggest part” of the project would include improvements to the Union Road intersection.
“I consider that a choke point,” Rheinheimer said.
That safety project, if given final approval, would be an attempt to ease conditions before the Highway 156 gap project breaks ground, which could happen by 2009.
The gap proposal includes building a new four-lane highway – to ease congestion – south of the existing road. Its prospect has stirred criticism from San Juan Bautista residents and officials who say it would disturb the town’s charm appeal.
Some other projects included on the list of projects for which funding is expected within 10 years include:
– Expansion of Highway 25 from Highway 101 to Hollister, which would widen the two-lane stretch to four lanes. On that stretch of Highway 25, more than 20 roadway fatalities have occurred since 2000.
– Construction of a Highway 25 bypass cutting through Hollister from San Felipe Road to a connection point with Airline Highway adjacent to Safeway.
– Construction of a new road extending Memorial Drive at the intersection of Meridian Street as a four-lane road to Santa Ana Road.
– Widening of Fairview Road, where 55 collisions have occurred in the past two years.
For more information on local road projects, call COG at 637-7665.
