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Construction on the Highway 25/101 interchange is expected to begin in late fall, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) announced this week.
Casey Emoto, VTA Chief Engineering Program Delivery Officer, said bids were opened in July and the transportation agency received six bids with the lowest bidder, DeSilva Gates-Viking a Joint Venture, offering to complete the work for $82.5 million. Emoto said that was 4% less than the VTA engineer’s estimate.
“We were very pleased to see that,” he said at the Sept. 11 Mobility Partnership meeting. The Mobility Partnership is a committee made up of elected representatives from Santa Clara and San Benito counties.
He said the project is expected to be awarded in October and construction would begin late November.
The project consists of two phases. The first phase, which is estimated to cost $136 million, includes constructing a new four-lane bridge just north of the existing structure, extending the ramps, and adding two signals. It also includes the construction of a separate two-way bikeway between Castro Valley Road and the Hwy 101/25 interchange.
Santa Clara’s Measure B will fund $77 million of the project and Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, will fund $59 million.
VTA Public Communications Specialist David Lovato told BenitoLink in August that the major impacts to traffic are related to the closure of Castro Valley and Mesa roads access to Hwy 101. He said the majority of lane closures and detours will take place “late at night, not during peak hours.”
According to the VTA’s website, the Hwy 101/25 interchange is over 30 years old and cannot accommodate current traffic demands which include commuters, commercial and recreational traffic.
“These conditions, coupled with high travel speeds, have resulted in higher-than-average accident rates in the interchange area, and traffic backups onto southbound US 101,” the website states.
It is common to see a line of motorists using the shoulder from Uvas Creek onto the interchange. According to Google Maps, that section of Hwy 101 is over half a mile.
The project’s second phase is estimated to cost $35 million and includes connecting Hwy 25 and Santa Teresa Boulevard. Construction for this phase is expected to take place between 2027 and 2029. No funding for this work has been approved.
Marcella Rensi, VTA deputy director of programs and allocations, said Caltrans will submit the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program grant of $2 million for right-of-way and construction phases for the Santa Teresa Boulevard extension project. The applications are due Nov. 22 and program adoption is expected in June 2025.
To obtain state funding, VTA will draft letters of support for various agencies, stakeholders and community leaders that would be included in the application packet.
“I’ll work closely with Marcella to make sure what are the main topics, what are some of the things we need to highlight,” he said. “But really get into the asks and why we are doing this.”
The 101/25 interchange is part of a larger project to widen Hwy 101 from four to six lanes between Monterey Road and Hwy 129; build a bridge on Hwy 25 over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks; and construct a flood bridge west of the tracks and pedestrian and bike connections.
Hwy 156 update
Kelly McClendon, Caltrans District 5 senior planner, said construction on the Union Road/Hwy 156 intersection is on schedule. Access is expected to be restored in mid-October.
Caltrans Project Manager Terry Thompson said after the access reopens, motorists will be directed to two lanes from the new alignment rather than the old route.
McClendon said following the completion of that section, Caltrans will repair the old alignment of Hwy 156 so it can be converted into a local road after the project is completed, which is expected to be in fall 2025.
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