$33 Million to Save 3 Minutes

Proposal and savings
Reject the proposed widening of the Cuesta Grade section of Highway 101 to six lanes. The estimated total project cost is $41 million — 80 percent federally funded.

Background
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) originally proposed major reconstruction of the three-mile long Cuesta Grade section of Highway 101 north of the city of San Luis Obispo in the 1960’s. The current proposal would widen Cuesta Grade by adding a truck lane in each direction, two large retaining walls, and substantially broader shoulders. Congested conditions currently exist on the grade during peak commute hours.

Status
The Federal Highway Administration has reviewed and certified the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). Local entities, including the City and County of San Luis Obispo and the County Air Pollution Control District, have written comments opposing the FEIS.

Problems with the project

Taxpayer Concerns
The widening would not achieve Caltrans’ stated goal of relieving congestion. The DEIS refutes this justification for the project, stating that the savings in commute time over Cuesta Grade "will be only one to two minutes … by the year 2000 and between two to three minutes … by year 2020."

Local Community
Concerns San Luis Obispo, the region’s largest city, questioned the DEIS’s adequacy, stating that less costly alternatives need to be fully explored before a final decision is made. Although Caltrans cites improved safety as a rationale for the widening, Caltrans says that current accident rates on Cuesta Grade are lower than on similar highways. Local activists believe that the project would make the road more dangerous by increasing the speed differential between cars and heavy trucks and by expanding the number of lanes that cars on intersecting roads must cross over. Furthermore, effective transportation solutions such as demand system management and tolls during peak traffic hours were not given proper consideration.

Environmental Concerns
Widening Cuesta Grade would fuel sprawl development north of San Luis Obispo by making lengthier commutes more acceptable.

The region is already a non-attainment area for state air quality standards, and increased automobile traffic would only exacerbate the problem.

The project would disturb a very unstable ridge that is subject to landslides and cause erosion and siltation of the Reservoir Creek watershed. Furthermore, the project would increase noise levels.

Contacts
Craig Anderson, Sierra Club, (805) 541-8838; Pat Vesart, Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo, (805) 544-1777.