The North Street to Buena Vista Road connection project took a
step forward Monday when the Hollister City Council authorized the
city engineering department to make offers for property needed for
the project.
Hollister – The North Street to Buena Vista Road connection project took a step forward Monday when the Hollister City Council authorized the city engineering department to make offers for property needed for the project.
The North Street extension will give people driving from west Hollister an alternative route to San Felipe Road and Highway 25. Currently traffic from west of downtown is all funneled down Fourth Street to San Benito Street and the highway.
“The purpose of it is to relieve congestion on Fourth Street and San Benito Street,” Assistant Civil Engineer Matt Kelley said.
During a closed session Monday, the council authorized Kelley to send letters to four North Street property owners with the city’s offer for the two acres that will be needed to complete the 1,500-foot, two-lane extension that will connect North Street to Buena Vista at the Locust Avenue intersection.
The property owners were made aware of the project about a year ago, Kelley said. And though he declined to disclose the amount offered for the various properties, Kelley said he believes the prices are fair.
“I don’t anticipate that much negotiation,” he said. “In my opinion we are offering quite a lot.”
If owners don’t sell their property willingly, however, the city is prepared to intiate eminent domain – the process through which governments take land for public use.
“That’s always a possibility,” Kelly said.
According to Kelley, the North Street extension project had been around dormant for three decades before it was revived last September.
“It had been a priority of the previous city council,” he said. “And that’s why we’re doing it now,” he said.
Since then, environmental studies for the project have been conducted and certified, and engineering work was done, according to Kelley. If all goes smoothly with the land acquisition, city engineers hope to start the project by spring, 2007. The extension will take about six months to complete, Kelley said.
In addition to extending North Street, the project will include the addition of a center left turn lane on Buena Vista Road between Locust Avenue and Westside Boulevard.
Hollister’s revised general plan draft, which is set to go to the City Council in November for a vote, designates much of the area around the extension as high density residential. According to City Manager Clint Quilter, there are currently no plans for development along the extension.
“There is nothing that has any sort of approval at all,” he said.
Luke Roney covers local politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
