DEAR EDITOR:
The Jan. 6 Dispatch article titled
”
A smoother Santa Teresa
”
addresses the obvious additional maintenance costs and
landscaping expenses required on Santa Teresa Boulevard north of
First Street.
DEAR EDITOR:
The Jan. 6 Dispatch article titled “A smoother Santa Teresa” addresses the obvious additional maintenance costs and landscaping expenses required on Santa Teresa Boulevard north of First Street.
What does not appear to be obvious to Gilroy city planners is the 20-fold increase in vehicle traffic along this corridor over the last 10 years because of heavy housing development along the west side of Gilroy – or that maintenance has never kept pace with the subsequent leap in road use.
People using Santa Teresa for the last 8 to 10 years are quick to tell the story of amazing growth along this major arterial, and the addition of three new stop lights between First Street and Longmeadow required by the increase in vehicle traffic.
The two-lane roads of Santa Teresa, Day Road, Masten Avenue, and San Martin Avenue to varying degrees have had to absorb the brunt of this growth, and the subsequent inferior and inadequate roadways are the direct result.
Why have the tax monies from these many hundreds of new dwellings not been properly earmarked for the surrounding infrastructure? Why have the developers not been required to sufficiently contribute to the associated growth of the roads required to support the additional traffic burden? Why has the City of Gilroy allowed the housing without adequate roads? To build and continue to build homes without upgrading the roadways that provide entry and egress does not appear to be adequate or responsible planning.
These two-lane roads are and have been in deplorable condition for years, and don’t come anywhere near keeping abreast of the additional traffic flow.
And now the new high school is to be built at Santa Teresa and Day Road. I’m having difficulty imagining a wonderful day in the neighborhood.
Jon Dennis, Gilroy
Submitted Thursday, Jan. 8
