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Caltrans begins EIR for Highway 25; short-term safety fixes under study
Summary
Caltrans has started concurrent CEQA and NEPA environmental studies for the Highway 25 project, with an EIR expected by the end of 2026. Local agencies and landowners have held meetings on route history and the speaker's office and Caltrans districts 4 and 5 are pushing a separate short-term safety study and potential interim fixes.
Caltrans has started environmental review for the Highway 25 corridor project and expects the combined state and federal studies to be complete by the end of 2026, a regional transportation official told the Hollister City Council.
Binu Abraham, the meeting’s presenter, said the agency completed a notice of preparation in December and is carrying out CEQA and NEPA reviews concurrently. She said a public comment period and outreach will be held once draft documents are available late in 2026 or in early 2027.
The work follows landowner meetings on Jan. 28 where residents along Highway 25 asked for the project’s history and details about route choices made in 2009, 2016 and 2020. “Caltrans went back to collect all the data and the facts,” Abraham said, and offered two in-person sessions plus a virtual meeting for people who could not attend.
Separately, Abraham said the Speaker’s office has driven a short-term safety initiative that brought together Caltrans District 4 (the Santa Clara portion) and District 5 (the San Benito portion) to identify immediate countermeasures after recent collisions and fatalities on Highway 25. She said Caltrans has completed a safety analysis that will be released in the next month or two and that possible interim steps being explored include barriers, striping and rumble strips.
Council member Morales asked whether the short-term work was in response to a specific fatal crash; Abraham confirmed it was triggered by recent collisions and fatalities on segments of the route in both counties and said Caltrans headquarters in Sacramento is coordinating with the districts and the Speaker’s office on possible immediate fixes.
The Highway 25 corridor crosses county lines, requiring coordination between two Caltrans districts, Abraham noted: “District 5 Caltrans … is the San Benito portion; District 4 is the Santa Clara portion. We have to interact with both districts.”
There was no public comment on the Highway 25 update during the meeting. The council did not take any formal action on the item; the presentation was received as an informational update.
Looking ahead, Abraham said Caltrans and partner agencies will publish outreach dates for the environmental review and will post project details on the VTA/SBCOG web pages and local websites as they become available.
For now, residents seeking additional or more timely information about specific construction schedules (for example, closures related to the 101-to-25 ramp improvements) were advised to check Santa Clara County/VTA project pages; Abraham said the 101-to-25 ramp phase 1 had been delayed by utility relocations and was expected to begin in April or May of the year discussed.
The Highway 25 topic will return to the council for updates as the EIR and safety analyses progress.
