Plan includes money to widen U.S. 101 to San Benito County
Morgan Hill – The governor’s ambitious $222-billion proposal to overhaul the state’s infrastructure – everything from school buildings to levees to public transit – is no vague wish list, with hundreds of millions already earmarked for road projects in Santa Clara and San Benito counties.
The Strategic Growth Plan that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger laid out in his State of the State speech last week includes a “working list” that earmarks $150 million to widen U.S. 101 from Morgan Hill to the San Benito County line, as well as $125 million to widen Highway 156 in San Benito and Monterey counties.
Although not yet on the list, local transportation officials also are angling for $800 million to extend BART to San Jose, as well as $6.1 million to help finance a flyover at the intersection of Highways 152 and 156, east of Gilroy.
Of the total price tag for projects across the state, $68 billion would come from bond measures put before voters between 2006 and 2014.
“One of the reasons he named those projects is to get voters behind this,” said Jayme Kunz, spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). “If you just talk about generalities like highway improvements, people don’t know what that means. … Even though there may not be a finite proposal, this is obviously going to be an extremely high priority. His staff is already making inroads with local agencies. For example, the local Caltrans director has contacted us for a list of priorities.”
The VTA has formed a subcommittee to put together a package of projects to be included in the governor’s infrastructure bond package.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage said that the stretch of Highway 152 between Gilroy and the Highway 156 interchange should take priority over widening 101, from Cochrane Road to the county line.
“I’m more concerned about (Highway) 152 than 101,” he said. “Highway 101 needs more lanes but it’s a good highway – we can live with it.”
He also stressed the importance of widening the dozen or so miles along Highway 156 leading east out of Gilroy.
“That really should be done,” Gage said. “People are getting killed out there.”
VTA officials hope bond monies will inject new life into the $28-million flyover project, a long-sought cure for the miles of weekend traffic that builds up at the intersections of Highways 152 and 156.
That project, which San Benito County officials have delayed for fear it could increase truck traffic to Hollister, represents one piece of the Southern Gateway Land Use and Transportation Study. Completed by VTA officials last fall, the study laid out a $1-billion plan to dramatically reshape the South Valley landscape with a batch of improvements and new roads in Santa Clara and San Benito counties.
Kunz said the bond proposal could help push forward some of those projects, many of which also require millions in funding from the federal government.
But as counties across the state clamor to include their transportation wish lists on the governor’s bond proposal, at least one official is urging people to focus on the big picture.
“I think this obsession that people have about whether projects redound to their neighborhood is something people need to think twice about,” said Randy Rentschler, director of legislative affairs at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “I think the point is that there is congestion throughout this state. I would urge folks not to get so focused on their project. What really matters is that we finally have attention paid to this problem.”
