Dear Editor,
I am writing to bring to your attention a California highway
problem. The junction of Highway 152 and Highway 156 near Gilroy
presents an ongoing backup and traffic hazard. This condition has
been worsening over the last several years and has come to the
point of becoming intolerable.
Dear Editor,
I am writing to bring to your attention a California highway problem. The junction of Highway 152 and Highway 156 near Gilroy presents an ongoing backup and traffic hazard. This condition has been worsening over the last several years and has come to the point of becoming intolerable. What makes the matter all the more frustrating is that a simple engineering solution exists and, if implemented, would entirely alleviate the problem.
The condition is as follows. Eastbound traffic on Highway 152 encounters a single stop sign which allows westbound traffic to make a left turn in front of them onto westbound Highway 156.
The design was perfect for the traffic loads that existed when it was first built. Motorists eastbound on Highway 152 simply came to a stop, waited for one or two cars to turn in front of them to make the transition to eastbound 156, then proceed on their way. But with the traffic loads today, this design is woefully inadequate.
Highway 152 east represents the only viable route for travelers from Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and north San Benito counties to reach Interstate Highway 5, the primary north/south artery in our state.
The populations in these areas have experienced a dramatic increase in the last 10 years with the Silicon Valley high-tech expansion. This has resulted in a regular backup of traffic from the 152/156 junction that extends all the way back to Gilroy (a distance of more than 10 miles) and routinely takes up to an hour to traverse. These are not isolated incidences on high traffic days such as holidays, but routine occurrences.
The solution is simple – a Highway 152 westbound overpass onto Highway 156 westbound would not just relieve the problem, but entirely eliminate it. I understand that the cost of such a project is significant but the long-term benefits of doing this far exceed, in my opinion, the negative financial impact.
Hundreds of thousands of Californians use this road. And every one of them is subjected to undue delays and put at risk by a needlessly dangerous traffic situation.
On the other hand, those same hundreds of thousands would be grateful to a governor and an administration that implemented a solution, and that could only have a very positive impact on the governor himself and his administration’s public opinion rating.
David Calloway, Santa Cruz
