Letter: Caltrans responds to Walgreens, highway issue

Two recent articles in the Hollister Free Lance (A State Stink Over Walgreens and Viewpoint: Leaders Must Unite) portrayed only one side of the issue about the City of Hollister’s desire to approve a Walgreens store on the corner of Highway 25 and Tres Pinos Road. To clarify, we want to give readers an opportunity to hear the rest of the story.
In April 2012, the city contacted Caltrans regarding the Walgreens proposal and what type of traffic analysis would be needed. And despite what the first article described as the city’s perspective of receiving nothing in writing from Caltrans, there were several emails over the next three months regarding traffic analysis, the need for an encroachment permit and some initial concerns over the proposed location of a driveway. This brings up an important point of clarification for your readers: Caltrans’ concern is about a proposed driveway connection to Tres Pinos Road and not solely focused on simple sewer or landscaping connections as the two articles have suggested.
Caltrans does not oppose or support development since we are not a land-use approving agency. That job belongs to the City of Hollister. Consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), our role is to help ensure that impacts created by development are adequately mitigated or avoided for the benefit of all road users. For the proposed Walgreens at this site, the main issue is an unsafe driveway configuration.
Once it became evident the lot would not remain vacant, Caltrans made it clear that intensified use as a driveway onto Highway 25 was a problem because of proximity to the intersection (less than 100 feet), lack of adequate sight distance and queuing of vehicles trying to enter, resulting in the high potential for rear-end collisions. Statewide design standards are in place to prevent this and maintain safe ingress and egress. Through our correspondence with the city, we suggested other locations for access, including the existing signalized intersection and the retail entrance just west of the parcel at Ladd Lane. Regarding the encroachment permit application the city has been waiting for, our reply was sent on March 18 reaffirming what we stated before: that Caltrans can support the sewer, gas and landscape improvements. However, the driveway in its current configuration is not an option due to public safety and traffic reasons.
Finally, Caltrans issues thousands of permits each year statewide for all types of businesses and residents. It’s a very important function of our agency and the public has the right of access to and from our highways. However, we also have a responsibility to ensure that such access is provided in the safest, most efficient way.
With this in mind, Caltrans is committed to keep working closely with city officials in order to resolve this issue.
Colin Jones, District 5 public affairs