Get ready for the new 25
It still looks like a work in progress, but the Hwy. 25 bypass
is nearly complete, according to the staff at the county Council of
Governments.
The project is being completed by Pavex, and remains about a
month ahead of the schedule mandated in the project contract. If
all continues to go well, motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians can
expect to start using the new north-south route around downtown
Hollister in early to mid-November, according to Lisa Rheinheimer
at COG.
Get ready for the new 25
It still looks like a work in progress, but the Hwy. 25 bypass is nearly complete, according to the staff at the county Council of Governments.
The project is being completed by Pavex, and remains about a month ahead of the schedule mandated in the project contract. If all continues to go well, motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians can expect to start using the new north-south route around downtown Hollister in early to mid-November, according to Lisa Rheinheimer at COG.
Pavex is installing the 2.7-mile roadway, at a cost of approximately $45 million.
The six-lane expressway will link Highway 25 from where it connects to San Felipe Road to Airline Highway at Sunnyslope Road.
Perhaps the biggest change is that the completion of the highway will mean that San Benito St. is no longer a state highway. That will return local control to Hollister’s main drag, making details like crosswalks possible and removing most through traffic from the downtown area..
The project is funded, in part, by funds generated by the Measure A sales tax initiative approved by voters way back in 1990.
The bypass is the second largest public works undertaking in Hollister’s history, behind the $120 million sewer treatment plant project that is also nearing completion.
But the barricades will not drop on the bypass without a measure of confusion, Rheinheimer warned. Portions of the route will not be opened early. On the first day of operation, “it’s going to be a little bit of a Chinese fire drill,” Rheinheimer said. Because the bypass crosses several busy intersections, when barricades come down, traffic lights will go on, and traffic engineers will need to synchronize all the lights even as motorists begin filling the route. “We can’t do it ahead of the opening because it would just confuse traffic,” Rheinheimer said.
