The Council of San Benito County Governments has been recognized from the Monterey Bay chapter of the American Public Works Association with the Highway 25 bypass being named the project of the year for endeavors ranging in construction costs from $25 million and $50 million.
COG Executive Director Lisa Rheinheimer and former Chairman Anthony Botelho accepted the award Wednesday in San Juan Bautista at a chapter meeting there. From here, the project will be submitted to compete with others in a national contest.
“What is so special about this particular project is not the engineering or the alignment,” Rheinheimer said. “It’s the fact that San Benito County residents essentially waited a long time for this project, put their money where their mouth is and approved the local sales tax in 1988.”
COG nominated the bypass, which competed with other varying public works projects. It completed and opened the Highway 25 bypass a year ago after decades of planning.
