Pacifica Highway 1 widening solution - Caltrans moving forward

The following 1 year prior op-ed article clearly expresses the regional through traffic and safety need to widen highway 1. The extent of the widening is 1.3 miles at the Calera Parkway. 

Half Moon Bay Review, 9/7/11.  "Highway 1 widening in Pacifica will save us all time." by Mark Stechbart 

"How many times have we all been stuck in the Pacifica Highway 1 traffic jam that extends to Linda Mar beach or up past the golf course?" Have you missed an airplane flight, a business appointment or were your kids late for school? With only two ways out of town, a lot of Half Moon Bay residents are very familiar with this miles-long traffic bottleneck.  

Denial of traffic congestion on highway 1?

That's going to change after years of talk. Caltrans and the city of Pacifica are moving forward on widening Highway 1. With improved traffic flow and increased safety, drivers from Half Moon Bay, the South County and south Pacifica will save from 10 to 15 minutes. Improving this regional arterial road - one of a handful of north-south links in the county - makes good sense.

The major cause of the traffic delay is cars turning east off Highway 1 into Vallemar and onto Fassler Avenue. (Those are the third and fourth traffic lights north of Devil's Slide.) That stops the north-south traffic flow.  These unacceptable delays block emergency vehicles and increase the commute hassle factor.

The solution is common sense: widen the road appropriately and double the turning lanes, particularly into Vallemar, so twice the number of cars can turn per signal. This plan to improve intersections is very similar to Half Moon Bay's work on Highway 92 at Main Street.

Existing 5th lane at Rockaway Blvd

We are the traffic! Every one of us in a single-occupancy car is the traffic. Now, add to this commute mix all the tourists driving the coast, commercial traffic and the expected traffic increase when the tunnel is finished. The bulk of the funding is set up to pay for this because county voters approved the November 2004 Measure A half-cent sales tax reauthorization with a 75 percent majority, indicating the voters really expect progress to be made. The rest of the funding comes from state gas taxes (which we all pay) and federal dollars.

If we don't use the money, it goes to another San Mateo County town and we remain stuck in traffic. The same cooperative problem-solving that enabled the Devil's Slide tunnels to be built, the Highway 92 passing lanes to be constructed and the Highway 92/Main Street intersection to be improved can be applied to Pacifica Highway 1 widening.

As a community, we cannot allow any more delay to a reasonable Highway 1 safety and commute solution. Without a Highway 1 solution, the traffic bottleneck remains, creating pollution, delays and missed appointments. Ambulances and other emergency vehicles will be delayed as well. Without the improvements, backups will approach three miles long during commute. It's a bad situation all around.

Safety first: congestion and accidents happen

Do you want to save 10 to 15 minutes currently spent sitting in traffic? Support the Highway 1 traffic solution today. Caltrans draft environmental impact report documents are available for public review and comment online by visiting www.dot.ca.gov/dist4. 

The project avoids wetlands (see Page 142) and offers U.S. Fish and Wildlife-approved and monitored environmental protections to the red-legged frog and San Francisco garter snake (Page 155)."  ***

Reference - CA Department of Transportation, District 4, Calera Parkway widening.  Related -  Fix Pacifica articles.

 

Related opposition- local.  Pacifica Riptide 9/6/12, "Pacificans for Highway 1 Alternatives (PH1A) challenges Caltrans."  Notes of promoted alternatives, Todd McCune Bray, 8/2/12,  posted in Fix Pacifica, 9/8/12.

Related opposition- regional. Sierra Club, Loma Prietan, January/February, 2012. "The Calera Parkway proposal calls for a 1.3-mile stretch of Highway 1 in Pacifica to be widened from four lanes to six. The Chapter has made its opposition clear. We wrote to the San Mateo County Transportation Authority in 2010. We also expressed our reservations when we questioned Pacifica City Council candidates during our 2010 election endorsement process. The project could cost over $50 million to solve a problem that could be better solved other ways, and it poses threats to nearby wetlands and endangered species. (See more about our opposition to this project in the November issue of the Loma Prietan.) "

Posted by Kathy Meeh