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Public works outlines road project timelines; Shore Road paving to cause short-term backups
Summary
San Benito County Public Works presented a status update on multiple road projects, including near-completion work on Seeley Avenue, slurry sealing on several Highway 156 parallel roads and ongoing Shore Road paving that will create morning and evening traffic delays while crews finish work this week.
Public Works Administrator Steve Loop told the Board of Supervisors on April 22 that several San Benito County road projects are either complete or entering final construction phases, and he urged drivers to avoid Shore Road during peak commute windows while paving continues.
Loop said the county has committed up to $4 million to repave a series of parallel roads near Highway 156 and that Prescott Road, San Justo Road, Freitas and Bixby have been reconstructed. Duncan Road, Lucy Brown Lane and a portion of San Juan Highway near Prescott are scheduled for slurry seal; the contractor expects final slurry operations next week, with striping to follow roughly a week later. Seeley Avenue in Aromas is reported at 98% complete pending curb and asphalt-dike work.
Loop warned that Shore Road paving during commute hours has produced lengthy backups. "Please try to avoid that," he said, noting the work is on schedule and will move into driveway and striping phases over the next one to two weeks. He said overnight paving—which shortens traffic impacts—was more expensive and the county did not budget the additional cost.
The Union Road bridge/realignment project near the new bridge will include a small alignment improvement on the east side to remove a reverse S curve; that work is expected to be completed as part of the June paving schedule. Public Works said it hopes to accelerate design and construction of the larger Union Road reconstruction segment from the Highway 156/San Juan Oaks signal south for about three miles, targeting summer start for major reconstruction.
Loop said the Roads and Budget ad hocs will review project priorities and funding; the ad hocs plan to meet together next week. He emphasized that any ad hoc decisions will be brought back to the full board. Supervisors asked staff to coordinate striping schedules with construction timetables to avoid repeated work if repaving will occur soon after striping.
Supervisors also raised pothole and frontage-road concerns after the Highway 156 project. Loop said some frontage segments remain Caltrans responsibility until the state formally transfers ownership; he will re-contact Caltrans about repairs and said the county can still patch potholes ahead of a formal transfer.
Loop summarized construction sequencing and budget constraints and said public outreach will continue while crews finish paving, striping and drainage work. "If we want to build the project and complete it, we just can only have certain windows of a certain amount of traffic that's released through the intersection," he said, noting the contractor’s schedule and safe traffic control measures dictate the temporary backups drivers have experienced.
The presentation was informational; no board action was taken on April 22.
