Regional transportation authorities hope to align a Route 152
realignment project with the future California High-Speed Rail
system, members of a Route 152 Mobility Partnership learned Friday
at the group’s first public meeting in Gilroy.
Regional transportation authorities hope to align a Route 152 realignment project with the future California High-Speed Rail system, members of a Route 152 Mobility Partnership learned Friday at the group’s first public meeting in Gilroy.
Partnership members, including San Benito and Santa Clara County officials, discussed those plans while meeting Friday at Gilroy City Hall. The meeting marked the first time that the group of leaders has met publicly.
Eventually, Caltrans plans to realign Route 152 between U.S. 101 and Route 99 in the Central Valley. The Valley Transportation Authority and Council of San Benito County Governments formally created a memorandum of understanding Oct. 15 regarding a portion of the project that connects Route 156 to U.S. 101.
That portion of the project is expected to cost $215 million to $284 million, according to the San Benito COG. Others estimate the project will cost as much as $500 million. The VTA has secured $10 million for the project thus far, including $5 million of its own money and $5 million from the state. John Ristow, chief Congestion Management Agency officer for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, estimated after the meeting that the entire 82-mile project between U.S. 101 and Route 99 is likely to cost well more than $1 billion.
The two-lane portion of Route 152 between Route 156 and U.S. 101 is a major bottleneck and the scene of many accidents – 1.4 times higher than state average, Lee said.
The freeway also serves as a major corridor for goods movement between the Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Monterey Bay Area, Lee said. By 2015, portions of the highway will exceed capacity, he said. The closest east-west corridors are Route 580, which stands 60 miles north, and Route 46, which is 120 miles south.
Any realignment of Route 152 would have to contend with flood plains in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, maps indicate.
Meanwhile, talks between the California High-Speed Rail Authority have been ongoing for the past six months, and the authority has been able to respond to alignment questions within the past month, Ristow said. High-speed rail authority officials generally have focused on Gilroy-area routes that either run through downtown or run east of U.S. 101.
“The option to cross over the high-speed rail is there, but environmentally that’s not as desirable,” realignment project manager Tim Lee said.
Ristow was optimistic, though.
“There’s a lot of unknowns yet, but I think the good thing is we can find a place to match up these alignments,” he said.
