The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board of Directors has a new chair—Gilroy Council Member Perry Woodward. Woodward, a practicing real estate attorney, was elected chair at the Dec. 11 meeting of the board, replacing Ash Kalra as chair.
Woodward joined the VTA board in 2010 and served as vice chair of the VTA board’s administration and finance committee in 2014.
“As the chair, I need to be concerned with transportation, transit and congestion management issues from Palo Alto to Gilroy, but it doesn’t hurt South County to have a leadership role in VTA,” Woodward, who also serves on the Caltrain board of directors, said. “I think it’s important in raising South County’s visibility with respect to countywide transportation issues.”
VTA has been exploring potentially placing a sales tax measure on the 2016 ballot to improve highways and expressways and add bicycle and pedestrian paths, and is working to fill the gaps in coverage by the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, he added.
Looking ahead, Woodward said VTA will proceed with plans to improve a heavily traveled section of U.S. 101 between Gilroy and Hollister. The project, estimated to take between four and six years from design to construction and cost $479 million, could include widening U.S. 101 to a six-lane freeway between Monterey Street and State Route 129 at the Chittenden Avenue exit and erect an interchange connecting State Route 25 with Santa Teresa Boulevard in Gilroy, according to preliminary plans.
“That whole area, for lack of a better word, is just a mess and we need a comprehensive solution,” he said. “What we need is for State Route 25 and Santa Teresa Boulevard to come in to the same over-crossing, but we also need Pacheco Pass to come in from where the flyover is by Casa de Fruta and tie into that so you can have Santa Teresa, 25, Pacheco Pass and 101 all coming together in a central spot. That will greatly streamline transportation throughout the region and it will make a lot more sense.”
The segments of country road there, Woodward noted, are serving as the trade corridor between farms in the San Joaquin Valley and the Port of Oakland. Improvements will allow for growth in the industry and alleviate spats of tough seasonal traffic, he said.
“It will open us up for more regional traffic in connection with the statewide agricultural industry,” Woodward said. “It will help on holiday weekends when everyone in the Bay Area is trying to head to Los Angeles and vice versa. It will also be a boost in the arm for the state’s economy.”
The state-mandated environmental study process is almost complete and VTA will need to secure funding to move forward with the project, Woodward added.
Thousands and thousands of spectators are expected to flock to the Bay Area in 2016 for Super Bowl 50, which will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“I’m looking forward to readying our transit system for that,” Woodward said. Super Bowl 50 takes place Feb. 7, 2016.
