It's the 4th of July weekend. That means everyone in the entire Bay Area is fleeing. Many pass through Gilroy on their way to LA and the Sierras and wherever else they are going; most take Highway 152, which connects 101 to I-5.
As I've mentioned before, traffic in Gilroy on a good weekend isn't fun. Today is horrible. 101 South stops a little after Masten Ave and doesn't really go again until after the 152 / 156 Y intersection. The problem is twofold (at least): 152 is a two lane county road from Gilroy to Casa de Fruta, and the intersection of 152 and 156 is at grade. The latter means that people going to Hollister have to cross the people fleeing. Even though the fleers have no stop sign, they try to be nice and let the Hollister-bound people go. This stops traffic.
Can this be fixed? Of course. Add more lanes to 152, which may or may not mean re-routing it. Put a real interchange at the intersection so no one has to stop. These solutions are obvious, but they haven't been done because no one has stepped up to get CalTrans to do something.
So, here's my big idea. Put large signs every mile along 152 from Casa de Fruta to Gilroy on the big holiday weekends. Each sign would say something like "10 miles of traffic ahead. Call [insert polititcian who should be doing something] at (XXX) XXX-XXXX and tell him how you feel right now."
I think a couple thousand people who have been stuck in traffic for two hours to go 10 miles calling the right politicians might have some impact.
Let the @#$% DOT deal with the @#$% road closure on I-5 on the Grapevine they PLANNED for 1-6 July first. Then you can fix that awful intersection.
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