Despite objections from county supervisors, the Santa Clara
Valley Transportation Authority, if it gets Caltrans’ blessing,
plans to move forward with its version of a flyover at the Don
Pacheco Y because any delay could jeopardize funding to build the
long-awaited project.
Hollister – Despite objections from county supervisors, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, if it gets Caltrans’ blessing, plans to move forward with its version of a flyover at the Don Pacheco Y because any delay could jeopardize funding to build the long-awaited project.
However, VTA officials also hope that the forthcoming environmental study for the project to fix the dangerous intersection at highways 152 and 156 will alleviate San Benito County’s fears that their design will dump more traffic onto local roads.
“We want all agencies to understand that this is a good project and support it,” said VTA spokesperson Brandi Hall.
Hall said that the final environmental impact report that will be released in a few weeks will show that the flyover design chosen by the VTA is less expensive than a design preferred by COG and will not increase traffic in San Benito County.
“The VTA’s next step will be to spell-out how the alternative preferred by San Benito County was studied and considered. We want them to know it was considered,” Hall said.
The dispute between the two counties first erupted when the VTA did not include the flyover design favored by the Council of Governments, San Benito’s transportation agency, in a preliminary environmental report for the project. According to Supervisor Pat Loe, the VTA agreed in 2003 to include both designs in the environmental report.
The version favored by San Benito County would create a 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 supervisors worry that means trucks traveling over the Pacheco Pass would elect to drive down 156 to U.S. 101, causing road deterioration. Loe said she was meeting with the VTA and Caltrans this week to discuss how those agencies might mitigate damage to county roads if increased traffic does result from the flyover.
Though San Benito County officials never debated the need for a flyover at the notorious intersection, they feel that the VTA did not seriously consider the alternate design that COG favored.
VTA officials have said that they chose the design they did because it is less expensive – by about $2 million – and fit the existing landscape better than the San Benito County’s favored design. In all, the project will cost about $33 million, and funding comes from a patchwork of federal, state and VTA dollars.
Though supervisors think that VTA’s flyover design will bring more traffic into the county because it will be easier to head onto Highway 156 into San Benito County than take the 152 to Gilroy, they unanimously agree that a flyover at the intersection is crucial. It has long been an inconvenience for motorists traveling to and from the Central Valley. 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.
“We need to have something done there,” said Board Chair Reb Monaco.
Luke Roney covers politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at
lr****@fr***********.com
.
