By Sarah Lombardo
Caltrans has agreed to fund the full $3 million cost of building a median barrier on Highway 85, putting to rest many officials' concerns about using local funds to support the project.
Paul Hensley, Caltrans District Division chief of operations, said state safety funds will be used to build a median barrier along all 13 miles the highway, not just part of it, as had been speculated earlier.
"We have been able to justify the entire length with safety funds," Hensley said.
According to Hensley, to qualify for state safety funds a stretch of highway must have a cross-median accident rate of 0.5 accidents per mile over a three-year period.
"After the accidents we had in late July and early August, both sections have now met that criteria," he said.
Since the highway opened in 1994, there have been nine reported cross-over accidents, resulting in six fatalities and numerous injuries.
Assemblyman Jim Cunneen (R-San Jose) has been negotiating with Caltrans officials for the construction of a barrier along Highway 85 since the beginning of the year.
"I found Caltrans to be increasingly cooperative in dealing with us," Cunneen said. "I'm just delighted that we now have an agreement with them. ...
We don't have to wait for Measure A."
Cunneen said that although he is a strong supporter of Measure A, he thinks it would be dangerous to wait until the outcome of the November election on the tranportation-fund measure before beginning construction of a barrier. Cunneen said many local officials from cities along Highway 85 had expressed concerns about their ability to pay for a median barrier without the funds from the half-cent sales tax Measure A would impose, as well as worries about whether the barrier funding would take money away from other local safety and transportation projects.
Cunneen said that with Caltrans providing full funding for the barrier, cities don't have to worry about putting other projects on hold or waiting any longer for the construction of the barrier to begin.
"We have the money," Cunneen said. "Now we can begin immediately."
Cunneen said he also hoped that voters didn't confuse the importance of Measure A with the funding of the barrier.
"I want people to know these are separate issues. We need that tax vitally for safety projects around the community," Cunneen said. "The median on Highway 85 does nothing to relieve congestion. It saves lives. Measure A will relieve congestion. ... I hope no one is seriously saying that now that the barrier is paid for, we don't need Measure A."
Hensley said the funding and construction of the barrier will not delay or postpone any other Caltrans projects. He said work has begun on the design and planning for the barrier, and he expects construction to begin in early December of this year and end in late December or early January.
"Because of the concern," he said, "we consider this a safety project, and it is important to get [the median barrier] in as soon as possible."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, August 28, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved