The Highway 25 bypass, which was on the verge of being approved
last week until lawsuits were threatened, has been decades in
coming and it must be realized soon. Getting the $24 million
project approved is not only crucial to downtown business success,
it’s a community safety issue.
The Highway 25 bypass, which was on the verge of being approved last week until lawsuits were threatened, has been decades in coming and it must be realized soon. Getting the $24 million project approved is not only crucial to downtown business success, it’s a community safety issue.
In order to move it along, the Council of Governments, the county’s transportation agency, needs to overcome the most recent legal obstacles – landowners, including Safeway, say the COG is taking land it doesn’t actually need for the project. Giving drivers a better route across town will also give the city an unprecedented chance to create change on our main street.
The city will be able to turn over the 2.5 mile bypass to CalTrans in exchange for control of San Benito Street, which is now a state highway. Hopefully that will end the excuses for not making it safer to cross the street downtown. CalTrans argues that San Benito Street is a highway and doesn’t need more stop signs or traffic lights, and that putting in crosswalks would only give pedestrians a false sense of security.
But to make the street a successful business district – the goal of many downtown shop keepers and city leaders – security is exactly what’s needed. Once the road is handed over to the city, officials will have the freedom to reconfigure the sidewalks, narrow the street, put in crosswalks or take any other steps necessary to make downtown friendly to pedestrians. And once that happens, perhaps more people will come downtown to shop.
While the bypass will make a significant difference to downtown, it will not solve all the traffic problems for many drivers coming from the southeast portion of town. The next step is to look at ways to improve the drive from the Bolsa to Fairview Road. Since the Highway 25 bypass was first put on the city’s General Plan in 1959, Hollister has grown significantly to the southeast. As a result, Fairview is packed with commuters who won’t necessarily be served by the Highway 25 bypass. The 677-unit Award Homes project will dump even more people onto the busy road. In the future, COG directors should turn their attention to creating an improved connection between Fairview and Highway 25.
Until then, COG should speed the approval of the Highway 25 bypass to hasten the recovery of Hollister’s downtown.
