As the city of Morgan Hill prepares to begin the
long-anticipated extension of Santa Teresa Boulevard as a bypass
around the western side of downtown, residents last week objected
to the need and noted possible negative impacts of the project on
surrounding properties.
As the city of Morgan Hill prepares to begin the long-anticipated extension of Santa Teresa Boulevard as a bypass around the western side of downtown, residents last week objected to the need and noted possible negative impacts of the project on surrounding properties.
The city held the first of a series of public outreach meetings Thursday. About 50 people attended the meeting, and most of those who had an opinion spoke against the $17.6-million proposal.
Arguments against the project aired at the meeting include heavier traffic through the residential neighborhoods which could result in speeding, noise and safety concerns. Some attendees questioned the need for the new road segment, which would connect Hale Avenue to DeWitt Avenue, across West Dunne and Spring avenues.
“Spending $17.6 million for people who want to go through town, that’s a misplaced use of our money,” said one attendee at Thursday’s meeting.
An informal vote cast by show of hands at the meeting indicated that most people in the room do not ever want to see the project completed.
Construction is currently scheduled to begin by early 2012, according to the city’s fiscal year 2010-2011 budget documents.
However, that timeline could change based on public input offered in the outreach process.
The Santa Teresa Boulevard “gap” project will alleviate both long-term and short-term congestion, as well as improve safety for motorists, pedestrians and residents along the route, according to city staff and a minority of attendees to Thursday’s meeting.
The project has been part of the city’s Capital Improvement Program since 1969, but has been repeatedly delayed. The most recent holdup was the city’s “circulation element” for the general plan, a study of Morgan Hill’s road traffic needs until 2030 that was just completed earlier this year.
That study found a reduced need for road improvements since the previous circulation element. While previous studies of traffic growth cited a need for a four-lane Santa Teresa extension, the updated study found the projected traffic needs only call for a two-lane street gap fill-in.
Information from the exhaustive traffic study presented at Thursday’s meeting indicated that the extension of Santa Teresa Boulevard would lighten traffic on existing streets in the area.
“Without doing anything, by 2030 there would be an increase (of traffic) on local roads as well as on parallel facilities,” said Daniel Rubins of Fehr & Peers, the consultant that produced the traffic study.
The project was budgeted at a cost of $17.6 million – including the costs of environmental studies and property purchases – in Redevelopment Agency funds for this year’s CIP. The timeline of the project has not yet been determined, and will be partly subject to public input, according to city staff and consultants at Thursday’s meeting.
In response to a question from the audience, public works director Karl Bjarke said houses on private property are “in the footprint” of the Santa Teresa proposal and could be taken by the city.
Other details for the project that the city will seek public input about in the coming months include whether or not it should have an “arterial park” with a wide walkway on one side of the street, what kind of street lights to install, what type of median strip to build and whether or not sound walls will be necessary.
