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The California Transportation Commission on May 17 approved $55 million for the Hwy 101/25 interchange project in Santa Clara County. Currently during rush hour traffic, many San Benito County residents are stuck on the shoulder of Hwy 101 en route to the Hwy 25 onramp.
County resident Bob Tiffany was recently appointed to the commission by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, also from Hollister. The commission is the state agency responsible for allocating funds for highway, passenger rail and transit improvements.
“It will obviously have a tremendously positive impact on those residents that commute out of San Benito County and up into Silicon Valley,” Tiffany said in the commission meeting, which took place over two days in Orange County. He added it also “will deal with that very dangerous situation with people backed up on Highway 101 and help with congestion on the western part of [Hwy] 25.”
The project consists of two phases. The first phase, which is estimated to cost $136 million, includes constructing a new bridge just north of the existing structure, extending the ramps, and adding two signals.
Sandra Bermudez with VTA Media Relations said Measure B, a sales tax for transportation projects in Santa Clara County, will contribute $76.8 million toward the project and the rest, $59.2 million, is coming from the Senate Bill 1, The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
According to Chris Metzger of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, bidding for the construction contract is set to start in late spring or early summer. He said the goal is to construct the ramps in 2025, build the new bridge in 2026 and demolish the old ramps and bridge and finish the roadway in 2027. The transportation authority did not immediately say how much funding will be available for the project.
The Mobility Partnership is an agency with representatives from San Benito and Santa Clara counties who work on transportation projects that serve both jurisdictions.
The second phase is estimated to cost $35 million and includes connecting Hwy 25 and Santa Teresa Boulevard and the closing of the Castro Valley and Mesa roads access to Hwy 101. Construction for this phase is expected to take place between 2027 and 2029. No funding has yet been approved.
The 101/25 interchange is part of a larger project which includes widening Hwy 101 from four to six lanes between Monterey Road and Hwy 129; building a bridge on Hwy 25 over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks; constructing a flood bridge west of the tracks and pedestrian and bike connections.
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