COG's detour allows traffic to proceed around the construction work by turning right in each direction, but not directly through the intersection. It also emphasizes the use of Ladd Lane and Hillock Drive to avoid congestion around the construction zone. Illustrated map by Michael Jacobsen
Hollister's Daniel Arvizu works for a living in construction, with sheet metal, so he understands that big projects like the bypass intersection closure bring some level of inconvenience.
Arvizu was outside Ace Hardware on Wednesday, Day 2 of the month-long closure, loading up his truck with supplies he had just purchased at the store.
"I think it's great," said Arvizu, who drives through that area each morning on his way to work, of the bypass project expected to divert Highway 25 traffic off San Benito Street and around Hollister's downtown.
Though the detour has slowed traffic and pushed drivers away from the Airline Highway/Sunnyslope Road intersection - where through traffic is closed - citizens like Arvizo and even some businesses destined to hear their share of customer gripes are touting the bypass' expected benefits to area traffic flow.
"Right now, it's kind of a headache," said B.J. Kamboj, manager of SpeeDee Oil Change & Tuneup at the intersection's southeast corner, where one of two entrance driveways has been closed for the project. "But in the long run, it's going to help us."
And while some residents have a positive take, others questioned the project's necessity and the extra drive time involved with the detour.
Aromas' Joe Luttner and New Idria siblings Kate and Kemp Woods, outside Starbucks on Wednesday afternoon in the Nob Hill shopping center, expressed some displeasure with the roundabout-like detour that can take drivers several blocks in the wrong direction before turning them around toward their destinations.
"We went through this way and this way and this way and around," Luttner said.
To which Kemp Woods shot back, "You'll get over it."
The Council of San Benito County Governments, overseeing the $49 million bypass project, hopes drivers get over any frustrations and remain patient until the major commercial intersection opens again to through traffic.
COG Transportation Planning Manager Mary Dinkuhn said Graniterock Pavex construction crews are "getting a lot done" by working into the evenings and that she hadn't heard of any complaints or major issues.
"We're just trying to get it done as quick as we can," Dinkuhn said of the bypass first broached in the 1950s and made a reality in 1989 with the passage of Measure A to use local tax dollars on the project.
Businesses in that area undoubtedly hope so, too. As they remain open - which all of them have - their customers inevitably will experience some delays when shopping.
Keith Parrish, manager of Larry's Liquors on the intersection's northwest side, heard several complaints the first day. But he hasn't seen a drop in business, especially from regular customers who noted to him how they had to drive around a bit to get there.
"They've found ways to get here," he said.
Pedestrians also are finding their way around the intersection, but Dinkuhn did note a concern with people walking on the yet-to-be-finished bypass road and finding they have nowhere to go when they meet the construction zone.
"Most don't want to walk the extra three blocks (to get around it)," she said.
Kollin Kosmicki Kollin Kosmicki is editor of the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 337 or editor@freelancenews.com.
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Students warm up for school
