After the design for the flyover at the Don Pacheco Y became a
contentious issue last year, planning agencies in San Benito and
Santa Clara counties are about to complete an agreement to hold
regular discussions about regional traffic issues in hopes of
stopping future disputes before they start.
Hollister – After the design for the flyover at the Don Pacheco Y became a contentious issue last year, planning agencies in San Benito and Santa Clara counties are about to complete an agreement to hold regular discussions about regional traffic issues in hopes of stopping future disputes before they start.
Controversy erupted over the summer when Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Authority chose a flyover design for the intersection of highways 152 and 156 that local officials worried would increase truck traffic on San Benito County roads. Local opposition to the VTA design has faded during the intervening months as the San Benito County Council of Governments and the VTA have worked to draft a memorandum of understanding which, according to COG Director Pat Loe, will establish quarterly meetings between the two agencies.
“I think the design of the flyover is pretty well established,” Loe said. “What we have to do is move forward – open the lines of communication so this doesn’t happen in the future.”
The meetings will be an opportunity to discuss traffic planning on a regional scale and also talk about the VTA providing funds to repair and improve San Benito County roads affected by the VTA traffic projects COG Director Anthony Botelho said.
“Transportation issues, congestion and traffic safety, it all has a regional impact,” Botelho said. “We want to have a forum for if we do start seeing adverse impacts because of the flyover we can sit down together and resolve the problem.”
Now in the VTA’s hands, the draft MOU will likely be finalized today, according to VTA Spokesperson Brandi Hall. The finalized MOU will likely be sent to the VTA board for a vote by April, she said.
While San Benito County officials always agreed that a flyover was needed at the dangerous, congested intersection, they said that the design chosen by the VTA would funnel more truck traffic onto already over-taxed San Benito County roads. Local officials also felt that VTA hadn’t given adequate consideration to an alternative design favored by COG.
The version preferred by San Benito County would create a $28 million flyover to route westbound traffic on Highway 152 over the intersection and onto 156. The VTA, however, chose a design that would create a flyover to route eastbound 152 traffic from Gilroy over the intersection and back on to 152. That design would connect 152 westbound directly with 156.
Local county supervisors worry that means trucks traveling over the Pacheco Pass would elect to drive down 156 to U.S. 101, causing deterioration and congestion on local roads, such as Shore and Frazier Lake roads and Highway 25. VTA officials, on the other hand, have maintained that its design for the project will not increase traffic in San Benito County.
While San Benito County officials never took any steps to actually thwart the flyover project – which will be constructed in Santa Clara County some in Santa Clara County feared that the strong opposition to the VTA design could jeopardize the funding for the flyover – a patchwork of federal, state and local dollars that took years to weave.
Now Loe, who had been among the most vocal in her displeasure with VTA’s flyover design, said she is pleased with the progress that has been made on the MOU and is looking toward a cooperative future with Santa Clara County. Like Botelho, Loe said she sees the quarterly meetings that the MOU will establish as a forum for discussing how VTA can provide financial mitigation, should the flyover increase traffic on San Benito roads.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage said that he agrees that COG and VTA should discuss traffic as a regional issue because roads in both counties serve populations in both counties. He was adamant, however, that VTA not pay for road improvements in San Benito County.
“Each area has to be responsible. They (San Benito) want us to pay for their road improvements,” Gage said. “I don’t agree with that.”
The intersection at highways 152 and 156 has long been an inconvenience for motorists traveling between Interstate 5 and Highway 101. Westbound motorists who want to get onto Highway 156 from 152 now have to make a left hand turn and cut across moving traffic, creating a safety issue and delays.
Good Samaritan motorists often stop to let traffic turn left on to 156, which can cause get-away weekend traffic to back up 13 miles to Gilroy.
Construction on the flyover is slated to begin this summer and be completed by spring, 2008, according to Hall.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
