FREE ESSAY ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUS WITH HIGHWAY EXPANSION

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUS WITH HIGHWAY EXPANSION

Gloria Stovall
November 13, 2000
Sect: John Gulick
Expansion of Highway 101
Since Highway 101 was completed in the early 1960s, no improvements or changes have been
made and the highway has not been touched. Recently California transportation planners
gave the final approval to the first expansion of Highway 101 in Santa Rosa. This raises
some serious issues within the community. Although the planners have agreed to this
change, members in the community have disagreements. 
The changes proposed consist of adding a carpool lane in both directions between Santa
Rosa and Rohnert Park. There are issues raised with this proposal. Adding lanes to both
sides of the highway will widen it, taking out trees and habitats of the area. If these
trees are removed, homes of animals such as squirrels, birds and insects will be
destroyed. As the lane widens, this allows for more cars to pass through. Cars are
somewhat detrimental to the environment. They cause pollution in society that is ever
growing. All the affects of the lane expansion lead to another. 
Gloria Stovall 
November 13, 2000
Sect: John Gulick
When the lanes are added, more cars pass through the area, as was already said. With the
increase in cars, it will undoubtedly lead to an increase in population. More people will
travel through Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa and see what nice neighborhoods are there.
However, these areas don't have very much room for expansion. The cities themselves are
quite full and would not be able to support a quickly growing population.
In 1990, the population of Santa Rosa was at 158,352. Since then the population has
tripled. With such large growth, the area has become more congested and therefore so has
the highway traffic. Even though the population in the area has grown a considerable
amount in the last ten years, there is not a significant amount of room for more in the
future. It has taken nearly ten years for CalTrans to get to this point and it is still
in progress of trying succeed in the expansion.
Gloria Stovall
November 13, 2000
Sect: John Gulick
Over the past decade, there have been a number of attempts to expand this area of the
highway. In fact, CalTrans is still in the process of obtaining permits from the North
Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board that are required before it can proceed.
Construction has been delayed many times in the process. Construction was originally set
to begin October 1st of this year but has been pushed back to January 1st of 2001.
Wright, a member of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority says, It's not a big deal.
It's just a matter of going through the governmental process when asked about the delay.

In addition to the environmental issues with the expansion, there are other reasons why
citizens in the area do not want this to happen. One reason is the rise in sales taxes
for transportation. A factor that many commuters will not be happy with is the fact that
it is expected to take 18 months to complete the 4.8 miles of carpool lanes, sound walls,
traffic metering lights and 
Gloria Stovall
November 13, 2000
Sect: John Gulick
improvements on several entrance ramps. It will be somewhat of an inconvenience. It will
most likely slow down traffic for the 18 months during the construction and cause many
unhappy commuters.
Although there will be a delay with the beginning of the construction, Wright said that
CalTrans officials expect to have the project completed by its original target date of
February of 2002. During the eighteen months of construction there will more than likely
be a big inconvenience for those who travel Highway 101 on a regular basis. Commuters
will have to deal with slow traffic through the area. 
Another point that people of the community aren't looking forward to is the price of the
project. The entire thing will cost $23 million and will not be something that many want
to pay for. In the past, provisions were sought to lower the threshold for raising sales
taxes for transportation but this failed. Despite the 
Gloria Stovall
November 13, 2000
Sect: John Gulick
fact that four local tax measures to widen Highway 101 failed in the 1990s, the money has
been earmarked for the project will come from state and federal gas taxes. Voters have
rejected sales taxes for expanding Highway 101 and mass transit which leaves the county
at a disadvantage competing with eighteen other counties that have local transportation
taxes to augment state and federal money. Some local officials hope that seeing the car
pool lane project will make voters more enthusiastic about raising sales taxes for
transportation funding. At this point, there has been no such luck with this. Each time
there is a new proposition for the sales taxes, voters vote against it, leaving
transportation with low funding for the construction. Even though transportation money is
not coming from sales taxes and doesn't look to be soon, late negotiations on Governor
Gray Davis' five-year $5.3 billion transportation plan did produce an additional $17
million for Highway 101. 
Bibliography
none