Article last updated:
Wednesday, May 09, 2001 2:44 AM MST
Caltrans has plans to widen
Hwy. 99
Cost of 8-lane road may exceed $300 million
By Mark Abramson
SAN JOAQUIN BUREAU
MANTECA -- Caltrans wants to widen Highway 99 from four to six or even
eight lanes to handle the estimated 185,000 cars a day that will crowd
onto the busy freeway by 2015.
The state estimates that the roadwork could cost between $200 million
and $300 million.
At Monday's City Council meeting, officials from Caltrans explained
the widening process and talked with homeowners who fear their homes
could destroyed to make way for a bigger freeway.
"There's a chance we might have to take some homes," said Phillip
Sanchez, Caltrans project manager overseeing the project. He said he
did not know exactly how many homes could be affected.
The city, state and county have been working together on the project
and have come up with four alternatives.
At present, Highway 99 has two northbound lanes and three southbound
lanes. The expansion would widen it to three and possibly four lanes
in each direction between Highway 120 and Arch Road.
Expansion methods
Caltrans could add lanes within existing medians, but that would not
meet minimum widths for shoulders to allow drivers to pull over safely
in an emergency. And the new lanes would be closer to the center of
the freeway.
Alternatively, the new lanes could be built outside of the freeway
away from the centerline. The medians would be at least 16 feet and
use shrubbery for the center divider.
A third option would be to create a narrower median with a concrete
center divider.
The final alternative proposes widening the highway by adding lanes on
the outside and eventually expanding the roadway to eight lanes.
Councilman John Harris was skeptical that widening the freeway would
be enough to keep up with the area's increasing traffic and
congestion, as intended.
"It seems like the moment we expand the lanes, they are immediately
filled," he said.
He urged Caltrans to look more closely at mass transit for the Valley
and pointed to successes like the Altamont Commuter Express which
links the Central Valley to Silicon Valley and the Bay Area.
Plans are still in the early stages and the environmental process
alone is expected to take six years.
"There was general agreement for the need to do something out there,"
Sanchez said.
Residents worried
But people living along Highway 99 say they are worried that that
"something" could encroach upon their homes. Some of them also say
they want to see sound walls go in to keep traffic noise to a minimum.
"We want to protect the neighborhoods from being gobbled up by the
freeway," said David Vickers, the city's transportation analyst who
has been working with Caltrans on Highway 99.
The state also tries to avoid replacing homes with asphalt, he said.
The project also includes upgrading the Main Street and Lathrop Road
interchanges, replacing the Cottage Avenue and Louise Avenue
overcrossings and removing the on- and off-ramps to roads near Little
John's Creek.
"This is going to be a major change for our community," Mayor Carlon
Perry said.
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