The city has plans to begin the long-anticipated extension of
Santa Teresa Boulevard as a bypass around the western side of
downtown, and those plans should move forward. Now.
The city has plans to begin the long-anticipated extension of Santa Teresa Boulevard as a bypass around the western side of downtown, and those plans should move forward. Now.
The Santa Teresa Boulevard “gap” project will connect Hale Avenue to DeWitt Avenue, across West Dunne and Spring avenues. Construction of the $17.6 million road is scheduled to begin in 2012, and complaints from a handful of neighbors should not slow the process.
That’s not to say input is not needed. It is. But that input should not center around whether or not the road should even be built. 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.
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 determined that the road would only need to be two lanes, instead of four.
Arguments against the project aired at a recent meeting include heavier traffic through residential neighborhoods, which could result in speeding, noise and safety concerns.
However, the road will do the exact opposite. Residents living in southwest Morgan Hill will be able to avoid neighborhood streets such as DeWitt, Spring and Peak avenues and instead hop on the two-lane Santa Teresa Boulevard to get to downtown and to the northeast of the city. That will reduce traffic along those roads, resulting in less speeding and noise, and safer neighborhoods.
“Without doing anything, by 2030 there would be an increase (of traffic) on local roads as well as on parallel facilities,” Daniel Rubins of Fehr & Peers, the consultant that produced the traffic study, told those at last week’s public meeting.
Finally, complaints from several dozen neighbors who live in the area should not outweigh the greater good of the other 39,800 residents. That is the essence of NIMBYism.
Planning for future growth is smart.
The next Santa Teresa Boulevard project public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 in the Hiram Morgan Hill room, Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road.
