Spend up to a billion dollars to expand highways 25, 152 and 156
or build a new six-lane freeway through the grazing lands of
northern San Benito County connecting the three notoriously
congested and bloody highways?
Spend up to a billion dollars to expand highways 25, 152 and 156 or build a new six-lane freeway through the grazing lands of northern San Benito County connecting the three notoriously congested and bloody highways?
Transportation coordinators provided local civic leaders with six detailed plans to solve problems with area highways, where growing traffic volume continues to overwhelm the aging roads which have taken 48 lives since January 2000, according to the California Highway Patrol.
And although all six options vary in cost and design philosophy, environmental barriers and political strategy might end up being the final factors deciding which plan is selected to relieve Gilroy’s eastern and southern gateways by the year 2025.
“Given the financial situation of California, I don’t think we will be able to find any pot of gold to pay for an all-in-one project,” said Mayor Tom Springer, a board member of the Valley Transportation Authority, Santa Clara County’s major transportation agency that has taken the lead in the multi-agency project to improve the three South Valley highways.
“That’s why, from my point of view, we can’t possibly secure the big chunk of money it would take to build anything new such as a freeway through existing agricultural land,” Springer said. “We must focus on a plan that can be built out in sections as money comes in. That means widening existing routes.”
But proponents of plans to build either a six-lane freeway connecting Highways 25, 152 and 156 – or a new bypass from Highway 25 to 156 near the intersection of 152 – say widening the existing routes isn’t economical and takes away too much land from local farmers.
“If you build a new highway instead of adding four or six new lanes to those highways, you only use about one-third of the land that you would for expansion,” said Greg Swett, chairman of the San Benito County Farm Bureau’s transportation committee, which endorses the ‘3-in-1 freeway’ plan to open traffic flow on 25, 152, 156. “Expanding the current roads is too costly, not only in dollars, but in fertile soil.”
Cost
Despite the fact a large portion of the three highways highlighted by the Southern Gateway study are in San Benito County, the VTA has decided to use its clout as the fourth-largest county in the state to help improve its neighboring county’s arterial roadways, which are seen as key to supplying a good chunk of South County’s workforce. Highway 152 also is seen as the main connector between Silicon Valley, the Central Valley and Southern California.
It is estimated that more than 70 percent of the money for the road improvements will have to be paid for by state and federal funds. At least 80 percent of that money is planned to be secured by Santa Clara County; because of San Benito County’s small population it is unlikely the state would grant it the large amount of funds necessary for the project.
“Highway 152 to I-5 is one of the major routes from the Central Valley and Los Angeles to the entire Bay Area so we think the state will understand our concerns here for trucking, agriculture and business,” said Carolyn Gonot, deputy director of the VTA’s Congestion Management Program. “That said, getting the money is still expected to be the largest hindrance.”
Labeled by the VTA as the Southern Gateway Project, each of the six options will cost at least $700 million to construct, with the most expensive option’s price tag soaring above $1 billion.
– Option 1: Widen U.S. 101, Highway 152, Bloomfield Avenue, Highway 25 and Highway 156. Cost: $1.1 billion.
– Option 2: Widen U.S. 101, Highways 25 and 156. Cost: $850 million.
– Option 3, “Bypass”: Widen U.S. 101, large portions of Highways 156 and 25 and create a four-lane bypass from 25 to 156 near its intersection with 152. Cost: $890 million.
– Option 4, “3-in-1”: Widen U.S. 101 and Highway 156, and create a six-lane freeway running from 101 just south of Highway 25 to 156 and 25. Cost: $700 million.
– Option 5 “Bypass to 156”: Widen U.S. 101, Highway 25 and a small portion of Highway 156 north of Hollister and create a four-lane bypass from Highway 25 to 156 near 152. Cost: $860 million.
– Option 6: Widen U.S. 101, expand Highway 25 and a portion of 156 north of Hollister, and create a six-lane freeway from Highway 25 to Highway 156 near 152. Cost: $1 billion.
“Each option has its strengths and weaknesses,” said Bob Davies, captain of the local CHP unit which patrols all three highways involved in the expansion and U.S. 101. “But the important thing is that any one of these options will make Highway 152, 25 and 156 much safer; if there are no improvements, the large number of accidents will continue and more people will lose their lives.”
Environmental Concerns
Regardless of which above option is selected this fall as the solution to South Valley’s highway woes, a contingency of stakeholders from San Benito, Santa Clara, Monterey, Merced and Santa Cruz counties and at least seven cities, including Gilroy, will have to approve the expansion.
Because of the location of the highways, Monterey Bay region air and water quality authorities have already showed concerns about possible pollution effects from the new or expanded roadways.
According to Springer, it will be much easier to get environmental groups to approve the expansion of existing roads than get them to approve a new freeway or a bypass through current grazing lands.
“Adding new routes creates a number of environmental issues about water run-offs, etcetera,” said Springer, who would prefers Option 3 to all others. “It’s not an easy thing to get a freeway approved where there is currently viable agricultural land.”
But Swett said the land that would be acquired to expand the current highways is packed with better soil than the 13 privately-owned parcels south of Highway 25 between U.S. 101 and Highway 156 where the new freeway is proposed.
“The soil (on the land where the freeway will be built) is very marginal,” said Swett, who is lobbying for the 3-in-1 Option 4. “It makes more sense to use that land than take away the good soil along the current highways.”
Time frame
VTA officials say they are hoping to begin pursuing one of the six options in the fall.
Once environmental and funding issues are resolved, construction could begin as early as 2007, although VTA-planned improvements to U.S. 101 from Tennant Avenue in Morgan Hill to Highway 156 in San Benito County might push back the improvements to Highways 25, 152 and 156.
“With the financial difficulties the state is in right now, I can’t see the construction beginning for another 15 years,” said Santa Clara County District 1 Supervisor Don Gage, a member of the VTA Board of Directors. “It’s a long process that’s just beginning.”
Separate upgrades funded by 1996 Measure B to the Highway 152 U.S. 101 intersection are planned to be complete by January 2004, and a subsequent widening of 152 from Miller’s Slough through Llagas Creek is planned to be reviewed in August.
