The San Benito County Department of Public Works is accepting
contractor bids to make improvements to the intersection of
Fairview and Fallon roads
– an intersection that is among those with the highest incidents
of car accidents in the county.
Hollister – The San Benito County Department of Public Works is accepting contractor bids to make improvements to the intersection of Fairview and Fallon roads – an intersection that is among those with the highest incidents of car accidents in the county.
Improvements will include left turn lanes on Fairview Road so both northbound and southbound traffic can turn left onto Fallon Road. A right turn lane will also be created on southbound Fairview Road, turning onto Fallon Road, according to Assistant Public Works Director Arman Nazemi.
“It’s a dangerous intersection; it needs attention,” Supervisor Don Marcus said at a board meeting Tuesday, during which supervisors gave Nazemi the go ahead to start requesting bids for the project.
Several contractors have shown interest in the project and have picked up bid documents, according to Nazemi. Bids are due to the public works department office by July 11, where they will be opened that day at 2pm. Once supervisors approve a contractor, work on the project will begin within 15 days. And once construction begins, the job is scheduled to be completed within 80 working days, according to Nazemi.
The estimated $460,000 price tag will be covered in part by a $270,000 federal grant. The remainder will come from the county’s traffic impact fees people pay when they build new homes.
According to a list compiled with traffic data from 1997 through 2000, the intersection at Fairview and Fallon Roads is one of the top 10 accident locations in San Benito County, Nazemi said. About five years ago the public works department began improvements on other high accident intersections, starting with the intersection of Fairview Road and Highway 156, where traffic signals were installed. Subsequent projects included widening the intersections at McCloskey and Fairview roads and Santa Ana and Fairview roads.
The Fairview and Fallon intersection is one of the few from the top ten that hasn’t been improved.
“It is one of the last remaining on the list,” Nazemi said.
Luke Roney covers politics and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
