HOLLISTER
– Community members and local government officials attended a
town hall meeting to discuss the Highway 25 Safety and Operational
Enhancement Project late last week.
HOLLISTER – Community members and local government officials attended a town hall meeting to discuss the Highway 25 Safety and Operational Enhancement Project late last week.
About 45 people attended the meeting that provided an open forum for questions from the public, and presentations giving an overview of the project, its effects, design and funding, said Lisa Berg, transportation planner and project manager.
“For the most part people supported the project and had questions,” Berg said. “We were interested in hearing from landowners and farmers, to incorporate their concerns into the project early on – especially people who have property adjacent to Highway 25.”
California Highway Patrol Capt. Bob Davies gave a presentation on the background of Highway 25, and Brad Pike from the “Stay Alive on 25” committee gave a brief summary of the Highway 25 Corridor Task Force and their goals.
Berg highlighted the key aspects of the safety project, distinguishing it from the Highway 25 4-lane widening project that is not slated to go into construction until 2009, she said.
The Highway 25 safety project, which is scheduled to begin in January 2006, will construct a concrete median barrier along a total of 3.5 miles of the highway in three segments, Berg said.
“This project is moving forward and will be constructed,” she said.
Several intersections are also going to have improvements made to them, including Briggs Road, Wright Road, Bolsa Road, Shore Road and Hudner Lane.
The total amount of funding for the project is $12 million of local money, Berg said.
“We’re trying to figure out how to get the biggest bang for our buck,” she said. “We’re doing cost analysis and looking at where the major accidents are and how effective the dollars will be at various locations.”
After the presentations concluded, the attendees, split in half from property owners and concerned residents, asked questions about how the project might affect their land and their lives, Berg said.
“It was a very good meeting,” she said. “I have no complaints.”
The next community meeting about the project will be held sometime next November.
