Official: Bypass intersection work delayed until after the motorcycle rally
Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter on behalf of the Council of Governments (COG) regarding the recent editorial concerning the timing of construction on the Highway 25 Bypass project at Airline Highway and Sunnyslope Road. COG is happy to report that the contractor's schedule is such that the detour will start after the motorcycle rally and finish just before school starts - a good window that helps us avoid some of the busier traffic times in this heavily traveled area.
Every infrastructure construction project requires extensive work and, often, coordination among several agencies and utilities. In the case of the Highway 25 Bypass, people would likely be surprised to learn just how many utilities (electric, telephone, cable, water, sewer, etc.) are located near and under the roadway, particularly in the Sunnyslope Road/Airline Highway area. A tremendous amount of coordination must occur between the contractor and utilities during construction.
COG and its partners considered the impact that the upcoming detour might have on residents and visitors during the rally. Avoiding major impacts to the community and the efficient use of taxpayer dollars are both COG goals on the project. COG must be very careful about incurring costly delay damages imposed by the contract between COG and the contractor. Had COG instructed the contractor to delay the work until after the rally COG, would likely be responsible for paying delay damages to the contractor for lost work time.
The project is continuing on schedule and we look forward to an opening this fall. The community will be invited to join us for pre-opening festivities sometime in October. For up-to-date information on the project, visit www.Highway25Bypass.com.
Lisa Rheinheimer, COG executive director
With Santa Ranch possible, have they considered sound wall issues?
Dear Editor,
If Santana Ranch is built, will they be raising the sound wall on Fairview Road between Hillcrest and Sunnyslope? It is a lot of vehicle noise now with the amount of vehicles that pass by. If they add more homes, the amount of vehicles added to the road will increase a whole lot. With 1,100 units planned for this area, you have to realistically say that each unit will bring at least two vehicles per home. It will bring more as their children reach driving age. That's a lot of cars. Plus, I would think the road will have to be widened. I live in the Sunnyslope homes as you can already figure out. I hear a lot of noise that I have already gotten use to. But 2,200-plus more cars is going to be more than I can handle. I hope they plan on raising the sound wall. Is there a code for size of sound wall per vehicle that passes a certain area?
Dan Rendon, Hollister
Environmental reports should be separate for Gav, Dividend Homes
Dear Editor;
According to the "Notice of Preparation and EIR Scoping Meeting of an Environmental Impact Report for the Gavilan San Benito Campus and Fairview Corners Master Plan" dated 6/2/08 and available from Dr. Steven Kinsella of Gavilan, "the Gavilan College District will act as lead agency, preparing an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project referenced above".
Why should Gavilan prepare the EIR for Fairview Corners, which is a residential development of Dividend Homes? Dividend Homes would like to create the impression that these projects are related, but they are not. The proposed campus has an area reserved for on-campus housing, so it is clear that Fairview Corners is not campus housing.
The time spent on this part of the project by Gavilan staff is paid for by tax dollars. This is a clear and outrageous misuse of public resources.
These are unrelated projects of a profoundly different nature. Gavilan should do the EIR for its campus, and Dividend Homes should do the EIR for its subdivision. One has to wonder what inducements have been offered to Gavilan or its staff to make them so eager to carry this ball for Dividend Homes. Perhaps your newspaper can help us to understand what is really going on here.
Robert G. Huenemann, Hollister
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