Plans to improve Highway 101 south of Salinas

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) The stretch of Highway 101 just south of Salinas is a known hub for accidents, according to drivers in the area.

“I dog sit here in this area, and I’ve seen many accidents with semi's and they’re all deadly. A majority of them somebody gets killed. It gets dangerous out here,” commuter Maria Precidao said.

Community members, agriculture representatives, businesses in the area, TAMC and the California Highway Patrol met Monday to come up with ideas for changes to come.

“We have to be sure to take into account existing county roads that aren’t in very good shape. We need to take into account of course the notion that these left turns are very problematic and make it very scary for drivers on the highway,” Monterey County TAMC executive director Debbie Hale said.

This winter also exposed another fault on this corridor. Roads saw major flooding late last year in Chualar.

The funding will be available for changes. In 2016, voters passed a measure which includes money for improvements to the counties transportation safety.

A group that’s been fighting for changes to south of Salinas on Highway 101 is the Traffic Safety Alliance Group.

“That’s really been active in getting buy in and getting community support to get to this point to move forward and hopefully come up with viable concepts,” Jayne Smith said.

There’s a lot to weigh as changes come, including preserving agricultural land in the area and respecting businesses.

“A big discussion about how much land and footprint some of these interchanges are going to take up and whether or not prime ag land is really going to be impacted,” Farm Bureau director Norm Groot said.

There will be more meetings to discuss ideas for changes in the coming months, but the goal is to come up with a full report of solutions within the next year.