The Valley Transportation Agency made a presentation this week
concluding that tolling a realigned Highway 152 would be
financially feasible and beneficial for Santa Clara, San Benito and
Merced counties. The $1.5 billion project by the California Transit
Authority is in the early planning stages.
The Valley Transportation Agency made a presentation this week concluding that tolling a realigned Highway 152 would be financially feasible and beneficial for Santa Clara, San Benito and Merced counties. The $1.5 billion project by the California Transit Authority is in the early planning stages.
The nearly 80 miles of roadway would start at its eastern-most point near Los Banos in Merced County and would end at the intersection of U.S. 101 in south Santa Clara County, according to VTA reports. The new Highway 152 would cut through the northern tip of San Benito County near Pacheco Pass Highway, intersecting with Highway 25.
The VTA’s study divided the highway into 10 alternatives that would focus on finding the best way to conduct a toll, spokesman Tim Lee said to the Santa Clara and San Benito county’s Mobility Partnership on Wednesday in Hollister. The tolling would be based on how many miles were driven on the road.
The study showed that seven of the 10 alternatives would “pay for themselves” with some help from the federal government and private investors. The study also showed that alternative seven, where the driver would be tolled based on how many miles are driven on the road, with multiple toll booths throughout the highway, could present the most feasible way of paying for the roadway changes.
Lee called alternative seven the most promising.
Alternatives five and six called for just the Los Banos part of the roadway to be tolled, but the revenue generated wouldn’t cover the use.
The same study was presented to the Council of San Benito County Governments on Thursday and will be presented to Merced County and the CTA in the upcoming months, Lee said.
COG board member Jaime De La Cruz was wary of private investors and what effect the tolling would have on commuters.
“We will have to control how it goes forward,” De La Cruz warned.
COG board member Pat Loe agreed and voiced that Highway 25 should not be tolled.
“(The San Benito County people) are not going to get the benefit if Highway 25 is tolled,” Loe said.
The next set of research will look at whether the project will follow environmental guidelines, said John Ristow, VTA Chief Congestion Management Agency Officer, after Wednesday’s meeting. The VTA and COG hope to start the next phase in July.
