Transportation agency weighing new Hwy 25 routes

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In response to opposition from local farmers and community members, the Council of San Benito County Governments (COG) are considering tapping the brakes on ongoing environmental studies for its current Hwy 25 expansion plan while it analyzes different route options. 

The most recent studies began in December. A meeting is scheduled for May 15 at 4 p.m. to consider next steps.

Local farmers and community members have voiced opposition to paving over productive farmland for a new route. Their continued involvement in public meetings to make their concerns known appears to be bearing fruit. 

At a May 12 meeting at Fairhaven Orchards, which is among the properties significantly impacted by the route approved in 2016, directors showed support to the farmers.

“We want to partner with you because you guys are the experts,” Hollister City Councilmember and COG Director Rolan Resendiz said. “This is your land, these are your roads, this is your neighborhood.”

San Benito County Supervisor and COG Director Kollin Kosmicki said his support leaned toward adding two lanes to the existing route.

“If we want to get this done quickly, and if we want to do it in an affordable way that eats the least amount of prime [agricultural] land, we have to start focusing on what’s realistic,” Kosmicki said. 

San Benito County Supervisor and COG Director Ignacio Velazquez said there are inherent challenges with each option. He said adding two lanes to the existing route requires the county to follow state standards, which raises the project’s cost. 

He said another option is to ask the state to relinquish Hwy 25 to the county. That would loosen the standards, but Santa Clara County would also need to agree and take on its 2.5-mile portion of the highway. 

Another option presented by Velazquez is to partner with Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Authority to transform Hwy 25 into what is known as a trade corridor, referencing a proposal called “New Trade Corridor to connect Hwy 152 to Hwy 25.” The plan aims to improve the movement of goods between the Central Valley and northern Central Coast regions, improve commuter routes between the Central Valley and employment centers in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas, and improve regional and recreational travel.

“There are options here that all the public needs to understand,” Velazquez said.

BenitoLink has reported on the project’s process for several years. In 2020, then-COG executive director Mary Gilbert said an option was to build two new lanes to the existing route south of Hudner Lane to save money. The most recent discussions have included four new lanes for the entirety of the project.

Site tours make the case

The discussion took place following a walk and bus tour of the areas between San Felipe Road and Central Ag Supply on Hwy 25 that are impacted by the adopted route. 

First, Fairhaven Orchards owners Nicole Rajkovich and Marie Hoffman walked the attendees to an area in their orchard they staged with cones to signify where the Caltrans right of way would begin, cutting through their walnut, apricot and cherry trees.

Hoffman shared how this would be the second time their orchard acreage was reduced for a public project. The family previously owned orchards in Santa Clara County.

“This is what it means to us, not having to go through it again,” she said. 

Many farmers have acknowledged that Hwy 25 needs to be expanded to accommodate the demand but have urged local leaders to protect farmland. 

“It’s taking the hearts of numerous ranches,” farmer Joe Tonascia said.

Tonascia, who led the bus tour and has proposed analysing San Felipe Road as the Hwy 25 route and turning the current route into a county road, said the adopted route would reduce farmers’ ability to directly access their land, thus increasing the cost of their operations.

“Hwy 25 is our trade corridor,” Tonascia said. “That’s our lifeline. If we can make that thing make us money without impacting the roads, that’s what we need to do.”

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