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Traffic

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If you''re one of the 127 motorists who''ve been involved in a rear-end collision on Highway 68 between November 1995 and October 1998, you don''t need to be told what a dangerous mess traffic has become on the main east-west corridor between the Monterey Peninsula and Salinas.

And if you''re one of the more than 29,000 motorists who use Highway 68 daily and find themselves stuck in increasingly longer traffic jams, keep your eyes glued to your rear-view mirror--traffic is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Based on a 1999 traffic study of Highway 68 prepared by the Transportation Agency For Monterey County (TAMC), the reason for the traffic problems on 68 are simple: The current capacity on 68 with a Level of Service (LOS) D is only 15,000 vehicles. TAMC rates LOS with grades of A through F, with F being the worst.

According to the TAMC report, "Traffic along the SR68 corridor exceeds capacity, and since increased traffic demand cannot be served in the peak hour, congestion is likely to begin earlier each morning and end later each evening."

It should come as no surprise then that with traffic at nearly double capacity, the morning and afternoon commutes are stuck at LOS F, and likely to stay that way for some time, given TAMC''s analysis that traffic is expected to increase 14 percent from approved development projects, and another 7 percent from future Fort Ord redevelopment.

The good news, however, is that funding does exist for interim traffic improvements along Highway 68. The bad news is those improvements, which are several years away, are likely to be nothing more than a short-term fix, and could actually worsen traffic problems elsewhere along the Highway 68 corridor.

TAMC is recommending the widening of 68 to four lanes between Canyon Del Rey Boulevard (Highway 218) and Ragsdale Drive with a full traffic signal installed at Ragsdale; and connecting South Boundary Road, located on Fort Ord, to both Ragsdale and York Road.

Additional recommendations include a double left turn from 68 to Laureles Grade, and an additional eastbound lane between Corral de Tierra and San Benancio roads, which is viewed as more of a long-term project because of lack of funding and environmental constraints.

Monterey County currently has $2.5 million in traffic impact fees earmarked for Highway 68, collected from the Pasadera project ($2 million) and the Monterra Ranch/Canada Woods North project ($500,000). The county is awaiting a recommendation by a citizens advisory committee appointed by the county Board of Supervisors on whether those traffic impact fees should be spent for the four-laning of 68 near Ragsdale, as TAMC recommends, or whether they should be used for "safety" improvements between the Pasadera project and York Road, where a majority of rear-enders have occurred. Either choice, say traffic experts, has its pros and cons.

"Just putting in a signal and no other improvements doesn''t help the corridor," says Doug Bilse, who conducted the Highway 68 corridor study for TAMC, and who agrees a light at Ragsdale is "desperately" needed. "That would help solve congestion, but doesn''t solve the whole corridor problem. You''ll still have backups, but they''ll be shorter and with less safety problems."

Whatever project or projects are implemented, traffic experts agree that given the project proposals for Fort Ord, and the increasing development and growth along Highway 68 and throughout the Peninsula, any improvements will only provide short-term relief, and that eventually the county must bite the bullet and come up with about $200 million to either expand the entire stretch of 68, or construct an entirely new bypass on Fort Ord parallel to the existing Highway 68 corridor.

"Obviously the corridor is heavily congested right now, but which of the two choices will be most publicly palatable I don''t know," says District 5 Supervisor Dave Potter. "We''ll have to make a tough decision at some point."

That decision may have to come sooner rather than later as the Pasadera and Monterra Ranch/Canada Woods North projects go on line in the coming years. In addition, Del Rey Oaks'' Stone Creek commercial project at Highway 68 and Canyon Del Rey Boulevard, and that city''s proposal to develop a 350-room hotel, conference center and golf course on Fort Ord, will undoubtedly exacerbate traffic conditions.

According to DRO acting City Manager Ronald Langford, the Stone Creek project should be completed within the next year and will include a couple of restaurants, a convenience store and gas station. Langford adds that DRO''s Ord project could be up and running in three to five years.

For many officials concerned over the traffic situation on 68, the approval of the Stone Creek project by DRO, potential Fort Ord projects, and the county''s approval of numerous development projects along Highway 68, are all emblematic of the poor planning that has contributed to the traffic problems throughout the county.

"The City Council said there will be no increase in traffic through Del Rey Oaks from the Fort Ord project, and while the people in Del Rey Oaks are correct there is already a lot traffic, [Stone Creek] will create problems, backups and accidents," says Mike Weaver, a member of the Highway 68 Coalition and long-time critic of traffic planning on 68.

In the case of the Stone Creek project, DRO officials determined that because traffic was already so bad on 68, their project would not make conditions any worse--an assessment that strains credulity as far as Potter is concerned.

"Nobody is going to walk there," notes Potter acerbically. "You''ve also got the Del Rey Oaks conference center coming on aggressively, and while I haven''t seen the plan, I''m curious to see how all of it will mesh together with no significant impacts.

"I would suspect there will be some additional congestion management projects, but any capacity enhancement would be extremely expensive, and there are no development contributions on the order of magnitude to solve all the problems," adds Potter. "The contributions made are not large enough to give one big solution."

According to Dave Murray, a regional planner with Caltrans, the "big solution" alluded to by Potter needs to be considered sooner rather than later. Both the four-laning of Highway 68 and the construction of a totally new bypass on Fort Ord have their own logistical and economic advantages.

"I''m not in a position to make a determination which will be the preferred alternative," says Murray. "Before we can make a determination, there needs to be early coordination and input from the county, TAMC, Caltrans and the public. To be honest, the project could take 20 years."