Highway widening improvement - what you need to know

If you want a Highway fix so you don't have to sit in traffic, you're going to have to work for it:  1) write a letter and 2) show-up.  Will you do that?  

City council majority probably won't help, but may also be a drag on the process as usual.  And if you're successful in your letter writing and showing-up, the project will be done in stages over a period of about 3+ years. What will traffic congestion look like in 3 years going forward?  Remember 2005-2008?  Better start now to do something.  First get that letter written and include your name, address, phone number. By email, fax or US mail send your text to the address at the bottom of this article.  

Pacifica Tribune,/Jane Northrop, Staff Writer, 8/11/11. "A plan to widen Highway 1 from south of Fassler to north of Reina del Mar, also known as the Calera Creek Parkway project, is under environmental review. A draft environmental impact report with three project options -- a no build option, a narrow median option and a wider landscaped median option -- are all under consideration. The environmental review process has identified wetlands and endangered species habitat as main environmental issues that have been discovered, but which are expected to be mitigated during the course of construction.

Caltrans is the lead agency on the project with the city of Pacifica and the Transportation Authority as partners. Joseph Hurley, director of the transportation authority program, said the community needs to decide if this is something that should be built. "At the end of the environmental process, either it will be given environmental approval, undergo further study or abandoned altogether," he said. "This public review period is almost twice as long as normal for public comment. We want the public to have as much time as necessary to submit any comments. We want to allow the environmental process to play out. Let's do all the technical studies that are necessary."

Members of the public may comment on the draft EIR until Oct. 7. The address appears at the end of this article. At the last public meeting about the highway widening in Pacifica, the agencies presented every alternative that had been conceived and abandoned along the way to show the public why this widening design was the one on which they settled.

The next public meeting will focus on the current options. It is set for Sept. 22 at the Community Center. The program will begin with an open house at 6:30 p.m., followed by a meeting at 7 p.m. with a presentation followed by a question and answer session.

The current build options widen Highway 1 from south of Fassler Avenue to north of Reina del Mar from four to six lanes with shoulders. It would be widened primarily on the west side of the existing roadway. New pavement would be put in and the sidewalk will be improved. A bike path would be built.  There are various improvements proposed for the two intersections. As noted in the draft EIR, by the year 2035, the widening is expected to increase capacity through those two intersections and reduce congestion. Travel time would improve between eight and 11 minutes. The two alternatives vary in the way the median is designed. In the narrow alternative, the median would be increased to 22 feet. It's at six feet now. Under the landscaped median alternative, it will be widened to 30 feet. The residents of a single family home at 425 Old County Road would be displaced under both scenarios.

The project will require extensive mitigation measures to protect the endangered California red-legged frog and San Francisco garter snake. The National Park Service will have to sign off on those mitigation measures for the land that is owned by the GGNRA. In addition, a qualified archaeological monitor and a Native American consultant will assist if necessary. To guard the habitats, all construction staging activities will be located out of the wetland, aquatic and riparian habitats. Fencing will guide workers away from inadvertently straying. Mitigations to treat storm water runoff and control of pollutants in runoff during construction is expected to avoid indirect impacts to wetlands. Soil stabilization measures will be included. Slope protection will help control erosion.The environmental process is expected to be completed by next spring if everything falls into place, Hurley said. After that, the design process would take about a year and a half. Construction would begin about a year after that. The narrower media option would cost about $30 million and the median with landscaping, $35 million. 

Copies of the draft EIR are available at Caltrans, 111 Grand Ave., Oakland, San Mateo County Transportation Authority, 1250 San Carlos Ave.,. San Carlos, and in Pacifica at the Sanchez Library, 1111 Terra Nova Blvd., Sharp Park library, 104 Hilton Way, City Hall, 170 Santa Maria Ave., Community Center, 540 Crespi Drive, Planning Dept., 1800 Francisco Blvd. and Public Works -- Engineering Division, 151 Milagra Drive, or online at the websites for Caltrans (www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/envdocs.htm), Transportation Authority (www.smcta.com) and city of Pacifica (www.cityofpacifica.org).

Public comments must be received by 5 p.m. Oct. 7 and can be submitted by U.S. mail, fax or email to Yolanda Rivas, Branch Chief, Division of Environmental Planning & Engineering, California Department of Transportation, District 4, Attn: Thomas Rosevear, 111 Grand Ave., Oakland, CA 94623, fax no. 510-286-5600, email thomas_rosevear@dot.ca.gov."

Posted by Kathy Meeh