Background

In 2016, the State Route 25 Route Adoption Report was prepared to identify and preserve the location of a transportation corridor on State Route 25 between Hollister and U.S. 101 with the fewest environmental effects on resources. The adopted alignment from the Route Adoption Report was previously considered as the alignment for any alternative that proposes to move State Route 25 travel lanes, but Caltrans will now evaluate two potential project alternatives on the existing alignment. Environmental impacts anticipated from build alternatives will be evaluated in the EIR/EA in accordance with CEQA and NEPA.

Caltrans circulated a Notice of Preparation (NOP) on November 8, 2024.  Since that time, the range of alternatives has been revised to include a conventional highway alternative and an expressway alternative along the existing State Route 25 alignment for segment 1 (Post miles San Benito County R52 to R55.2). Therefore, Caltrans is recirculating the NOP and will be hosting an additional Scoping Meeting. All comments previously submitted to Caltrans during the 2024 NOP review period (November 8, 2024 to December 31, 2024) have been retained by Caltrans. If you submitted comments previously, they have been retained and do not need to be resubmitted.

Project Description

The project proposes to improve State Route 25 from Hollister to Gilroy. The proposed improvements on State Route 25 will be analyzed for potential environmental effects in a combined Tier I/Tier II programmatic environmental document (EIR/EA). The programmatic environmental document will consist of two tiers: Tier 1 Program-Level Analysis and Tier 2 Project-Level Analysis. The tiered approach to the environmental analysis will allow for all components of the project to be analyzed under one document and implemented in phases as funding becomes available.

The Tier I component proposes approximately 10.2 miles of improvements from San Felipe Road in San Benito County to Bloomfield Avenue in Santa Clara County (Hollister to Gilroy). The Tier I program will be implemented in phases. The first segment of the improvements will be analyzed in the Tier II component of the Tier I/Tier II environmental document, which includes conversion from San Felipe Road to Hudner Lane.

The first segment is identified as the State Route 25 Corridor Improvement Project – San Felipe Road to Hudner Lane.

The second segment will be located along State Route 25 from Hudner Lane in San Benito County to near Bloomfield Avenue in Santa Clara County. The project would connect with the U.S. 101 Interchange Project in Santa Clara County. The second segment of the improvements will undergo a more in-depth level of environmental review in the future and is identified as State Route 25 Corridor Improvement Project – Hudner Lane to Bloomfield Avenue.

There are currently 15 potential project alternatives being reviewed for feasibility. Reasonable alternatives will be considered as project alternatives and will be evaluated in the EIR/EA. These potential alternatives consist mostly of various combinations of four primary design elements, which are: general purpose lanes, High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV), High Occupancy Toll (HOT), and transit-only options.

Purpose

• Reduce fatal and serious injury collisions on SR 25.
• Provide sustainable multimodal mobility and travel options to improve person throughput while meeting current and future projected travel demand on the corridor to support and encourage the region’s housing, economic, and job creation goals.
• Provide reliable goods movement between San Benito County and destinations on the Coast, in the Central Valley, and through the Bay Area.
• Improve travel time reliability between San Benito County and Santa Clara County.
• Equitably improve connectivity and mobility for communities in San Benito County and provide access to job centers and services in Santa Clara County.
• Alleviate regional/interregional traffic diversion onto the local roads to bypass congestion.

Need

• Multiple at-grade access points and congestion lead to a high number of conflict points creating safety issues on SR 25.
• Due to an increase in population and an existing jobs/housing imbalance, partly driven by state mandated affordable housing allocation (Regional Housing Needs Allocation), there is an increased demand for travel along the corridor.
• Increased demand along SR 25, especially during morning and evening peak periods, reduces reliability for automobile travelers and transit.
• Lack of employment centers, institutions of higher education, health facilities, hospitals, and emergency care within San Benito County creates transportation demand for residents to travel to points north of the county, where jobs, educational institutions, and health facilities, hospitals, and emergency care are abundant.
• There is a lack of reliable multi-modal transportation options for traveling north of the county.
• Traffic diversion to surrounding rural roads due to travel delays on SR 25 raises safety and access concerns on rural roads not designed for the increased capacity.

Map: 

Partnerships: 

The Council of San Benito County Governments (SBCOG) and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).