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At a meeting this week, Caltrans announced that it has identified two sources of congestion on Hwy 156, east of San Juan Bautista, and has decided that solving it will require rebuilding the Hwy 156/101 interchange.
The main source of congestion occurs where eastbound Hwy 156 becomes a one-lane roadway as it approaches the Hwy 101 offramp. The second bottleneck area is the merger onto southbound Hwy 101.
Project Manager Terry Thompson said at the Council of San Benito County Governments (COG) meeting on Dec. 16 that Caltrans can reconfigure the ramp in two ways to alleviate some congestion, primarily on Hwy 101.
Thompson said Caltrans could create a 1,410-foot acceleration lane, or a 500-foot auxiliary lane—both options include a 600-foot merging taper, which is where the auxiliary lane merges into the main lane of Hwy 101.
She said the current design does not allow motorists enough distance to reach the speed of traffic before merging onto Hwy 101.
The cost of implementing the options range from $2 million to $3.8 million. Thompson said COG would be asked to contribute between $1.25 million and $2.55 million, depending on which option is implemented, because it’s a project that was requested by the local transportation agency in 2022
“If we do this project, it will alleviate traffic from that point,” she said. “That will not have very much effect on the traffic where the two lanes merge into one.”
Addressing the bottleneck created where Hwy 156 becomes a one-lane roadway, she said, would require a complete intersection rebuild, including a new bridge over the highway.
It is not uncommon for traffic to be bumper-to-bumper about a mile away from the point where Hwy 156 becomes a one-lane road. Taking into consideration congestion and safety, Thompson said, this location is not considered a priority by Caltrans.
However, COG Director and San Juan Bautista Mayor Scott Freels said that area is a safety concern.
“I can tell you that there’s, just from my PulsePoint, on Sunday afternoons, [CHP and the Aromas Fire Department] are normally [responding to] three to four vehicle accidents at that intersection,” Freels said. “They could be minor but they are still tying up emergency services.”
PulsePoint is a phone app that notifies officials and others when emergency agencies are dispatched within the county, such as vehicle collisions and fires.
Freels said the congestion is driving more traffic and accidents to local roads such as Salinas Road/ San Juan Grade Road, which connects San Juan Bautista and Salinas.
“It gets sketchy,” he said.
Motorists also use Rocks Road to circumvent traffic. At the end of that road, drivers are forced to cross two lanes of traffic on northbound Hwy 101 to access the southbound lanes.
Because of likely turnover on the COG board, directors asked that the project be brought back at a later date for the new board to discuss next actions. No funding has been identified if the board decides to move forward with the proposed plan.
COG is the regional transportation agency made up of two representatives from the San Benito County Board of Supervisors, two from the Hollister City Council and one from the San Juan Bautista City Council.
Measure G update
According to the annual Measure G report, the tax generated $13.2 million in the 2023/24 fiscal year. Measure G is a transaction and use tax approved by San Benito County voters in 2018. The measure was meant to improve local streets and roads, “improve connectivity, and reduce congestion,” according to COG.
Of the revenues collected last year, The city of Hollister and San Benito County each will receive $3.9 million and San Juan Bautista will get $415,782.
Since its approval, Measure G has generated $61.6 million for the Hwy 25 expansion project and local roads; as well as transit, bicycle and pedestrian improvements. It was expected to generate about $38 million in its first six years.
San Benito County voters passed Measure G in 2018. It added a 1% sales tax on local transactions for 30 years.
The measure is expected to generate $485 million over 30 years, according to the estimates presented to the voters in 2018.
The allocations are made in three tiers:
- Tier I: $242 million to the Hwy 25 widening project to reduce traffic congestion.
- Tier II: $216 million to maintain local roads. San Benito County and Hollister will each receive 47.5% of these funds, while San Juan Bautista will receive the remaining 5%.
- Tier III: $27 million for pedestrian and bicycle safety, future planning and other projects. This tier also includes 1% of funds for administration.
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