When Gov. Gray Davis orders open all eight lanes of Highway 101
from Bernal Road to Cochrane Road Monday around noon, the largely
ceremonial phone call he
’ll place from the ribbon-cutting ceremony near the Coyote Creek
Golf Drive off-ramp will symbolize a lot more than the unplugging
of years of freeway congestion.
When Gov. Gray Davis orders open all eight lanes of Highway 101 from Bernal Road to Cochrane Road Monday around noon, the largely ceremonial phone call he’ll place from the ribbon-cutting ceremony near the Coyote Creek Golf Drive off-ramp will symbolize a lot more than the unplugging of years of freeway congestion.
For the residents, politicians and business leaders with a hand in the five-year, $80 million project, the breaking of the Highway 101 bottleneck puts cement to a loose but solidifying notion that South Valley has become a political and economic force in Santa Clara County and the state.
Since 1996, when voters approved the tax measure (Measure B) that funded Highway 101 and other freeway improvements, South Valley leaders fought to widen the scope of the project from three lanes on each side to four, won a court case brought against Measure B backers and convinced the federal government to grant more time to acquire open space to mitigate for impacts to an endangered butterfly.
“Three lanes wouldn’t have accomplished anything, and the other issues were huge hurdles because they could have shut us down entirely,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage.
Gage, along with Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy and Gilroy Mayor Tom Springer, served on the Valley Transportation Authority during the planning stages of the Highway 101 project.
Kennedy was thrilled that the freeway would finally open, easing the commute for thousands of South Valley people.
“This is just wonderful and exciting,” Kennedy said Thursday.
Commute traffic on 101 was at a standstill Thursday morning, backed up from Cochrane Road to south of San Martin because construction crews were preparing for Monday’s full-lane opening.
The traffic woes extended to Morgan Hill city streets as commuters heard radio and television reports of the backup. Many exited the highway and funneled onto Monterey Road and Butterfield Boulevard, bringing traffic to a standstill downtown and on Main Avenue. Traffic moved slowly on the main Morgan Hill arteries long after normal commute blockages have cleared.
The Valley Transportation Authority predicts commute times to decrease by 12 minutes. In terms of speed, northbound and southbound commuters will be able to travel at 65 mph. Previously, speeds hovered between 28 and 35 mph averages. The average speed from Morgan Hill to San Jose is expected to increase from 30 to 40 mph.
One lane in each direction will be for carpoolers during peak commute periods.
The Highway 101 widening project is finished six months ahead of schedule. The VTA says the rearranging of the order of work was a large factor in speeding up the project. The change in scheduling added $2.1 million to the overall project, a tab the VTA justifies.
“When you look at saving 12 minutes a day moving goods and products into and out of the area, the widening project saves you $20 million a year,” said VTA Spokeswoman Anne-Catherine Vinickas.
Vinickas said she traveled the southbound lanes around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, just hours after those four lanes were opened.
“I’ve been slowed to a stop before even at that late hour, but yesterday it was clear driving at the predicted 65 mph,” Vinickas said.
Vinickas said traffic will run even smoother in July 2004, the expected completion date for the Highway 101 and 85 interchange project.
The commuter lanes of those freeways will be directly connected when the project is done. Currently, when switching between the two freeways, car-pooling vehicles must cut across regular lanes to get back into the designated carpool lane of the other freeway.
“It means easier and faster access for all drivers because the mixed lanes will see no weaving from car-poolers,” Vinickas said. “It really helps everyone on the freeway.”
