GILROY—A pay-as-you-go express lane on Highway 101 might be funded by a sales tax hike aimed at raising as much as $2 billion for county transportation improvements, according to a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority plan.
VTA Board Chair and Gilroy City Councilman Perry Woodward said discussion is “solidifying” on a quarter-cent, countywide sales tax measure to pay for projects the agency has not money for—including the express lane between Morgan Hill and Palo Alto.
In a presentation to the Gilroy City Council last week detailing projects in the works, VTA Director of Planning and Program Management John Ristow said the agency is considering stripping the median along 66 miles of U.S. 101 to add an express lane for which drivers would pay a toll electronically via a transponder.
That way, “there would be no need to widen the freeway,” Ristow said, but it would ease congestion and reduce commute times for paying customers. It would also generate revenue for future projects, as drivers pay the toll, he said.
Carpool-lane eligible vehicles would not be subject to a toll for using the express lane, however.
In the future, the VTA wants to install license plate reading cameras along U.S. 101’s proposed express lanes that would be capable of docking drivers who haven’t paid the toll via the technology, which delivers a fine and a notice to the address of the vehicle’s registered owner. The California Highway Patrol would be tasked with “on the spot” enforcement in the interim, Ristow said.
That project has a preliminary price of $600 million—nearly $100 million per-mile on the U.S. 101.
As it stands, the VTA lacks funds for the express land and other projects that would impact Gilroy drivers, officials said.
A $1 billion retrofit of State Route 152—a “vital artery” for the movement of goods up and down California—would include the creation of a flyover near Casa de Fruta between southeast Gilroy and Hollister, according to Ristow.
That would cost $300 million and would create a “straight shot” to State Route 25 near the San Benito County line, VTA Board Chair and Gilroy Councilman Perry Woodward said. The VTA also is considering toll lanes in Gilroy and Hollister along the state highway.
Over time, tolls generated there and along the proposed “express lane” on U.S. 101 would help pay for the projects. Without funding, the agency can’t do a thing, Ristow said.
A VTA committee will gauge the feasibility of a sales tax measure to pay for transportation projects.
Cities must submit desired projects in May to the VTA for consideration. The agency’s board will make a decision on what to fund by early 2016, Ristow said.
For the a sales tax hike to go on the November 2016 ballot, the VTA must submit proposed ballot language to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters by August 2016.
