It’s time for San Benito County to look beyond its borders and
get involved in the politics of our neighbor to the north. There is
about to be a political slugfest in Santa Clara County and the
outcome will directly affect us.
It’s time for San Benito County to look beyond its borders and get involved in the politics of our neighbor to the north. There is about to be a political slugfest in Santa Clara County and the outcome will directly affect us.
A key Valley Transportation Authority-driven issue – priorities for the Southern Land Use and Transportation Study – will soon be debated and the outcome will affect San Benito County residents for decades. Our leaders must get involved to protect and promote our interests.
The Southern Gateway Study is a sweeping regional transportation blueprint that covers everything from building of a new highway to connect U.S. 101 to Highway 156 at the Don Pacheco Y, to widening Highway 25 to the extension of Butterfield Boulevard in Morgan Hill.
The main problem is that the projects are not prioritized by Santa Clara County. Even worse, critics to the north say that our inability to decide a priority for the projects in our county – which the VTA is willing to build because they see San Benito as an increasingly-important gateway for goods and commuters on their way to San Jose – is sinking our chances of getting them done.
“If they try to keep everything in play, they’ll get nothing accomplished. San Benito County is too small and too poor to have everything,” said Eileen Goodwin, a transportation consultant who headed the VTA’s precursor, the Santa Clara County Traffic Authority. “There’s 152, there’s 25, there’s 156, there’s the 3-in-1. The study is fine as far as pricing and listing alternatives, but they need to send a clear message to the VTA and Caltrans so the projects can move forward.”
Without a clear and manageable plan, the massive amounts of state and federal funding needed to complete the projects may prove impossible to attract. Even relatively small projects such as the $30 million plan to build a flyover at the intersections of Highways 152 and 156, which is finally scheduled for construction next year, can languish for years while funding is secured.
That’s what our Board of Supervisors and Council of Governments – the local version of the VTA – must set their priorities soon. Our political leaders need to meet with officials from southern Santa Clara County, like Supervisor Don Gage, to confer on the Gateway Study and prioritize the list. Gage’s considerable knowledge and skills at give-and-take politics should prove to be invaluable when bargaining with San Jose leaders to get projects funded, and we must make him an ally.
A unified list, presented clearly and strongly to the VTA, is crucial to keeping our projects high enough on the list so that when funds become available they get done. It would be a shame if we couldn’t decide what we need and lose funding to some project in San Jose.
