I am amazed to read that there is a discussion about turning
Highway 156 into four lanes, or making it wider.
Editor,
I am amazed to read that there is a discussion about turning Highway 156 into four lanes, or making it wider. Such an action would not solve any of the problems that plague our county.
There is a more simple solution that will work. I am talking about not widening 156. Keep it like it is! Just improve the intersection with Union Road. I suggest improving the intersection at Union Road to be like the one for 156 and 25, where there are four lanes right at the intersection. In this case, the eastbound traffic would have two lanes until the turnoff for Hollister. One lane would be for Hollister only, the other would be for going to Los Banos.
The problem with traffic is that there are often large trucks that are held up at the Union Road light. They take a long time to get started at the green, so very few cars make it through the light. This causes a backup. If there are two lanes of traffic at the light, the backup will not form! As an example, please note that there is just as much traffic on Highway 25, which is two lanes, and it does not backup.
I have problems with expanding 156 to four lanes. First off, it costs too much money, and we can use taxes better for other things, like schools. Second, it will change the fabric of our county. Third, it will actually not eliminate the backup problem that we find every evening! (The eastbound lanes must be two lanes until the turnoff for Hollister, which is 300-500 hundred yards further.) Fourth, based on the experience of widening Highway 25, it will take a year, cause problems, and not really have serious value.
If we model the light at Union road like the one at 25 and 156, the backup will be eliminated, without the expense, or the change to how our county looks. We will simply have fewer cars stuck on the road every evening.
Arn Kratzer, Hollister
