The San Benito Blueprint

The San Benito Council of Governments (SBCOG) board voted unanimously to release the 2023-2024 Measure G Progress Report. The progress report, which can be viewed in full here, notes several road repair and construction activities throughout the county.

Meanwhile, our county roads program got a year end update as well!

Measure G

Measure G is a 30 year, 1% transaction and use tax that was approved by San Benito County voters in 2018. The measure is intended to improve our local roads, reduce congestion and improve connectivity. It is expected to generate over $485 million dollars over 30 years. The breakdown of where those funds will be spent is below:

[Image courtesy of the the 2023-2024 Measure G Progress Report]

Over the 2023-2024 period Measure G funds were collected and distributed as follows:

It’s important to note here that as Highway 25 is still in the early planning stages, funds from Measure G have been given in advance to the local jurisdictions to speed up road repair. As Highway 25 work progresses the balance of fund distribution will tilt the other direction, then normalize to the expected distribution buckets.

The Report Clarifies the History and Future of the Highway 25 Corridor Improvement Project

The report also goes into detail on the history of the Highway 25 Corridor Improvement Project with several key dates:

2016: Final Environmental Impact Report for Route Adoption. This clarified the route that the new highway would take.

2018: San Benito County Voters Pass Measure G! This 1% sales tax will provide approximately ~$240 million dollars in funds for the project.

2021: Cooperative agreement signed between SBCOG and Caltrans. This clarified that Caltrans will be responsible for delivery, scope, quality, and planning of the project.

2021-2024: Technical work continues between Caltrans, VTA, SBCOG, and other agencies.

2024: 7 alternatives revealed and kickoff of project level environmental review at the state and federal level.

For more updates on the Highway 25 Corridor Improvement Project click here.

Highway 25 safety improvements are needed in the interim, please follow @saveliveson25 on Instagram or Facebook for updates. We will also deep dive here into Caltrans’ safety investigation for the route as soon as details are available.

Notable Measure G Projects on the Horizon

The report also listed several projects on the horizon that have used or will use funds from Measure G. Those projects include:

Wright Rd: Repair between Buena Vista and Highway 25 (Construction in 2025)

San Benito Street Improvements: Improvements and Intersection Control Between Nash Rd. and Union Rd. (Construction in 2025)

Carr Avenue and Cienage Rd (Bird Creek) Bridge Replacements: Environmental and design work. (Construction in 2026)

County Roads Update

Director of Public Works Steve Loupe gave an update on the county roads project at the December 10th Board of Supervisors meeting. Overall it was an impressive list! 15 major projects were completed or are in progress by the county currently. Many of these projects are broken down into segments. That’s because several of them (Fairview Road) for example are paid with different buckets of funds. SB1 funds (or gas tax funds) accumulate at the rate of about $25ok every 3 months or so. So the county must wait for funds to accrue, then either bid out or construct the project themselves. [These images are directly from the presentation given at the December 10th Board of Supervisors Meeting.]

[*Please note item #26 Shore/Fallon Road Signal Should Say Fairview/Fallon Rd]

As you can see 2025 leaves a lot to look forward to as far as our arterial (major) roads go with 12 major projects. With Shore, Frazier Lake, the rest of Fairview, and Union being completed most major roads in and out of Hollister will have been addressed. Mr. Loupe also mentioned that once our arterial roads are completed that they’ll move on to improving our collector (or more local roads) within county jurisdiction.

My Take

Many county residents have been waiting and asking questions regarding the road improvement projects and I hope to share as much information for you as I possibly can. Something I see quite often is frustration regarding the way in which our roads are repaired, Fairview, for example, which is being completed in segments.

This is largely due to the source of funding for these projects. Some of the larger projects are relying on allowances from tax measures like Measure G or SB1 where others have to be budgeted out annually. This Capital improvement project has been on the books since 2021-22 and is just now getting to a place with visible progress. This type of work which other jurisdictions might be able to do all at once has to be broken down into segments because we can barely afford it. This really shines a light on our county’s financial situation.

As far as Highway 25 goes, I’m cautiously optimistic that we are moving in the right direction. The comment period for the Notice of Preparation for the EIR was just completed and environmental studies are soon to begin. Hopefully work on the first segment will begin as planned in 2030.

On another transportation note, yours truly was just appointed to the Measure G Citizens Oversight Committee representing district 1. I look forward to ensuring our tax dollars go where they need to be going. To learn more about the committee see this website.

I hope to keep you all updated with more details on our ever-changing road conditions as soon as I get them!