This article was written by BenitoLink intern Camille Mattish. Lea este articulo en español aquí.
The Highway 25 curve alignment, located 32 miles south of Hollister, is on schedule to be completed in late spring, and the combined cost of the original, failed project and its restoration has come to $14.2 million.
Caltrans Project Manager Terry Thompson said that the current alignment project, which began in 2017 and fixes a landslide that occurred shortly after the original realignment was completed, will have a total cost of $9.5 million. The cost of the original realignment was $4.7 million.
Caltrans began the first realignment in 2011 and completed it in 2015. Jim Shivers, public-legislative affairs manager for Caltrans District 5, said the project on consisted of straightening a curved portion of Highway 25 and cutting back slopes through a hillslide.
According to Thompson, the original purpose of the project, which is less than 1/8 of a mile, was to improve road safety, as the actual rate of fatalities and injuries in the segment were higher than the average on comparable roadways in California. Nonetheless, residents argued accidents were not a concern in that area.
“Soon after construction was completed, the cut slopes on both sides began to fail, and the newly constructed roadway needed to be closed for the safety of the traveling public,” Shivers said.
Thompson said that after the original project was completed, rainfall caused saturation to the soil, which then resulted in the landslide. Thompson also said because of the dangerous conditions from the failure of the cut slope, the newly reopened Highway 25 was then closed.
Shivers said that excavation work was completed and that a temporary detour was put in place while the second realignment project was under construction.
He said the current project is to “provide a permanent solution by flattening the cut slopes.”
Caltrans previously told BenitoLink that blue oaks, which were removed in 2023, will be restored at a 10:1 ratio and require a three-year plant establishment period.
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