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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

February 8, 2003

Pombo aims to ease I-205, 580 traffic

New highway may spur growth, threaten species, environmentalists say

That's the vision of Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, who this week introduced a bill asking the federal government to study how such a thoroughfare could be built to connect Del Puerto Canyon Road with Highway 130 just outside of San Jose.

Such a highway might ease traffic on Interstate 205 and Interstate 580, but environmentalists worry a new highway over the Coast Range would spur sprawling developments further south of Tracy and deep into the mountain pass.

It could certainly alter the range -- an area surrounded by burgeoning Northern California cities but still so isolated that children living there attend class in one-room schools.

The proposed highway would only be open to passenger cars, not big rigs. Dedicated lanes and toll waivers may be given to cars that get more than 35 mpg or to carpoolers, according to the legislation.
Currently, Highway 130 ends at Mount Hamilton just outside of San Jose. Winding rural roads connect that highway with I-5 and I-580.

A Pombo spokesman said a direct highway may be able to cut commute times for Valley commuters headed for jobs via the Altamont Pass into the eastern Bay Area because they wouldn't have to share a highway with Silicon Valley workers.

Fewer cars idling in stopped traffic would also lessen air pollution and save gasoline, spokesman Doug Heye said. "It would also encourage businesses to relocate to the Valley as well if there is an easy way to get people from Silicon Valley," he said.

According to the legislation, cars in stopped traffic cost the U.S. economy more than $70 billion in wasted time and fuel costs.

Pombo himself could not be reached for comment this week because of a Republican retreat in West Virginia.

Environmentalists and mountain pass residents are already doubting the value of the proposed highway.

Remington Stone, director of Mount Hamilton operations for the Lick Observatory, said a nearby six-lane highway would bring light to the remote area, hampering astronomers' search for objects on the edge of the universe.

"It would be a disaster for us," Stone said. "We're still at the forefront of research and do some things better than anywhere else in the world. A six-lane highway with its Shell stations and 7-Elevens would make that much more difficult."

Groups that push for smart growth and preservation of open space also attacked the idea.

"Building highways into areas that are now open space, ranch land and wilderness doesn't seem like a wise idea. It will end up with sprawling developments" and increasing traffic, said Dan Fahey with the Greenbelt Alliance, a Bay Area group.

The mountain range is also home to several threatened and endangered species, including the kit fox, the California red-legged frog and the Valley elderberry longhorn beetle. A highway could cut off groups of those critters, making it difficult to find mates.

David Froba, president of the Stanislaus Audobon Society, says a highway would also destroy most of the trees in the area, which grow in the crevices between hills -- the prime spot for a road.

"If I had to pick one area, this is the best place to bird watch in Northern California. It's internationally known," Froba said. "A highway would take everything worthwhile from the area -- the habitat."

But San Joaquin County commuters who face the grueling Sunol Grade each day think that building a new highway has merit.

"It would help a lot, but I'd probably be retired before they build it," said Troung Thinh, a Tracy physician who lives in San Jose.

Officials at the San Joaquin Council of Governments, a regional transportation-planning agency, say the proposal is an interesting idea that deserves study.

"Frankly, we don't have an alternative route to the South Bay until (Pacheco Pass) Highway 152, and no routes go directly to the South Bay," said Andrew Chesley, COG's deputy executive director. Building lanes onto the current highways can become too costly and only do very little to increase the number of cars the roads can accommodate, Chesley said.

Heye said engineers have suggested a car-only highway could reduce construction costs by half, because the road wouldn't have to be built to allow hulking semis.

It is unclear how much the highway might cost if built. That will be part of the feasibility study authorized by the proposed legislation. Heye said it is also unclear how much the feasibility study might cost.

To reach reporter Audrey Cooper, phone 546-8298 or e-mail acooper@recordnet.com. The Record covers the Stockton, San Joaquin, and Mother Lode communities.

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