Los Banos council supports narrowing scope of Highway 152 plan
The Los Banos City Council has limited its backing of a plan to alter Highway 152 that was causing angst to nearly everyone from the business community to emergency services personnel.
The California Department of Transportation has completed a study detailing safety measures it wants to perform, including traffic signal upgrades, installing more raised medians, reducing the number of crosswalks and making curbs compliant with the latest Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The plan is taking on added importance because the latest estimates do not have the Los Banos Highway 152 Bypass becoming operational until 2040.
The overall plan would cost an estimated $6.6 million and Caltrans was hoping the council would endorse the plan because that would make it easier to get state funding for the project.
The most controversial issue is a proposal to install raised medians along most of the highway’s four-mile stretch through town. Caltrans’ plan would restrict most left turns and U-turns to intersections with traffic signals. Police and fire department officials have said the plan could be problematic in situations in which they have to respond immediately. Business owners were also unhappy with the raised medians idea, because it would limit motorists’ access to their establishments.
I can always tell when there’s a hot-button issue in the city of Los Banos, the phone doesn’t stop ringing, emails don’t stop coming in.
Councilman Scott Silveira
Last week, the City Council chose not to support the raised median portion of the plan. The council also rejected intersection widening proposals that would accommodate U-turns, the closing of any driveways along Highway 152 and a suggestion that the Pacheco Boulevard and Ninth Street intersection become a cul-de-sac.
“I can always tell when there’s a hot-button issue in the city of Los Banos. The phone doesn’t stop ringing, emails don’t stop coming in,” Councilman Scott Silveira said. “This one here piqued the interest of a lot of people. I had a lot of phone calls with business owners that had very valid concerns.”
Silveira said he supports upgrading traffic lights for synchronization capabilities and other functions.
“It’s got to be risk versus reward. You go ahead and do all of this …Would it help, yes. But does it help enough to offset the damages we’re going to do to those businesses,” Silveira said. “Bang for our buck is the signal light optimization. Let’s see what it does, let’s see how much it helps us.”
A contingent from Merced College was among the scores of concerned citizens at a July 23 meeting on the Highway 152 plan. The group expressed concern about Caltrans not providing safe paths for students on bikes or skateboards trying to get to the Los Banos campus.
City Manager Steve Carrigan said the bike path the college is asking for is mainly in the county and much of it would involve private property.
“The school did come to us six, seven months ago. I just want to make it clear to everybody this is mostly county private property. Not our call,” Carrigan said.
This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Los Banos council supports narrowing scope of Highway 152 plan."