Caltrans considers streamlining approval process on some state
highways
If Highway 25 makes the cut, work crews could start widening the
overburdened commuter route as early as 2005
– six years faster than previously thought, said George Lewis,
the executive director of the Council of Governments.
Caltrans considers streamlining approval process on some state highways
If Highway 25 makes the cut, work crews could start widening the overburdened commuter route as early as 2005 – six years faster than previously thought, said George Lewis, the executive director of the Council of Governments.
That’s because the project is now in the running to be one of a select few transportation projects that breeze through the federal government’s complicated environmental review process.
Highway 25 activists say that’s good news because it means the deadly commuter route could be widened that much faster.
“Honestly, when government bodies see 23,700 signatures behind something they take it seriously,” said Brad Pike, the man behind the Stay Alive On Highway 25 campaign. “The (widening) projection was going to be around 11 years from now and now we’re talking four to seven years.”
Pike and Lewis sent letters of encouragement after Caltrans officials surprised them with a call last week and urged the duo to rush letters that could be passed onto the U.S. Department of Transportation as soon as possible. Highway 25 was one of 12 highway projects across the state to appeal to the federal government for a streamlined environmental review.
“It was almost a shock to me,” Lewis said. “I first heard about it last Wednesday.”
A normal environmental review process by the federal government can take four to five years and involves dealing with agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that can keep the most carefully laid out timelines from going forward. The project borders the habitat of least two endangered species, including the California red-legged frog and the San Joaquin Kit Fox. Highway 25 also borders a protected historical site near U.S. 101, and that review process alone can take up to four years, Lewis said.
“I wouldn’t object to anything that speeds up the process,” said Rita Bowling, a county supervisor and member of COG.
Highway 25 has been the scene of 20 deaths since February 2000, as traffic has congested the two-lane highway during Hollister’s growth boom. After lobbying by Pike and county officials, Caltrans agreed to the recently completed safety improvements that created a wider median and wider shoulders.
Widening the highway from two lanes to four lanes, however, was a decade or more away.
“Hopefully, we can get something happening now,” said Councilman Brian Conroy, who is sending a letter to Congressman Sam Farr to lobby for the streamlining process.
Even though the project could move much more swiftly through the review process, it is by no means a sure thing. A streamlined process became a possibility after President George Bush signed an executive order month creating a committee in Washington D.C. to comb through each state’s transportation projects. But the committee must still select Highway 25 from the batch, and neither Lewis nor Caltrans knows yet when or whether that will happen.
And there’s also the money factor.
“We still can’t build anything if there’s no funding,” said Caltrans Spokesman Colin Jones.
Even though about $40 million in local funding is earmarked for Highway 25, that’s still nowhere near the $200 million necessary to widen the project, according to Lewis. Installing a concrete barrier on certain portions is scheduled to begin in 2006. And keeping Sacramento’s attention focused on a Highway 25 that is an inter-regional commuter route in comparison to major interstates is going to be tough, he said.
Still there is plenty of room for hope and as long as the community keeps moving in one direction the highway will be transformed one of these days, according to Pike.
“You’ve got to have everyone participating or it doesn’t really happen,” he said.
