Ladd Lane Traffic Calming Project starts removal process
HOLLISTER, Calif. (KION-TV) UPDATE ON August 29, 2023, AT 12:00 PM: In what has been deemed a project that "should have never moved forward" by current Hollister city officials. Ladd Lane's Traffic Calming Project has started the process of being removed as of Tuesday.
Hollister Mayor Mia Casey said that the white delineators sticks are being removed and that a bid will be required to repair and restripe the road. Casey said the process should take a few months.
Casey added on last week after a city council meeting "The almost unanimous consensus was that this project was not working and had created numerous problems that did not exist before, including visual obstructions that could be hazardous. Most asked to see the street returned to its original 4 lanes, with bike lanes that were protected and crosswalks."
The Council gave directions for Public Works to follow the requests of residents.
A year later: Ladd Lane Traffic Calming Project "should have never moved forward"
UPDATE ON August 1, 2023, AT 6:12 PM Hollister City Council member Rolan Resendez told KION there are some council members who want to start over with Ladd Lane.
These yellow lines were designed to slow down traffic during the pandemic when people were hunkered down.
"We know that the traffic has calmed down, there is no more drag racing, there is a safer route for our schools kids, to get to school, and ride their bikes to school, that's just a fact," said Councilmember Resendez. "We have to do our due diligence and should have an after-study done to prove that."
Hollister Mayor Mia Casey tells KION that the public works office had included an after-study as part of the agenda proposal along with the community meeting, which is where $62,000 came from. That was denied.
The City Council opted to only approve the community outreach at the reduced cost of $25,000 back in April.
"Some people on the council have an agenda, and they want to tear out the entire traffic-calming measure," Councilmember Resendez said. “I think, it's very wasteful of our tax dollars and resources, on top of that, if they succeed in tearing out everything, creating Ladd Lane into a 4-way road it's what they wanted to do, they're going to have hundreds of new homes.”
But in a statement, Hollister Mayor Casey said the Ladd Lane project has nothing to do with creating homes, it has to do with traffic.
She said, "This is not a residential roadway. No houses face either Ladd Lane or Southside Road. The Ladd Lane traffic-calming project should never have moved forward."
Mayor Casey also said the visibility was reduced, and emergency vehicles had also difficulty maneuvering through Ladd Lane. She also said the City of Hollister held a community meeting and people overwhelmingly said they wanted to remove the traffic-calming project.
The Public works director will be putting together a report and the item should come back to the city council on August 21 for a decision.
Hollister City Council approves $25,000 on a community outreach program for Ladd Lane
UPDATE ON APRIL 18, 2023 AT 5:12 PM- In a 4-1 vote, the Hollister City Council approved a motion to spend at least $25,000 on a community outreach surrounding the Ladd Lane project.
The city council wants any issues neighbors have to be identified and possible solutions can be discussed.
The City Council did not approve the proposed $61,000 after-study for Ladd Lane that was part of the original request. Councilmembers thought that the cost of the study would be too expensive.
City of Hollister begin distributing flyers in both English and Spanish. The council expects to hear the results of the community outreach in August or September.
City of Hollister looking to approve over $61,000 for Ladd Lane post-construction traffic study
The City of Hollister made national headlines in the summer of 2022 with a unique way to stop traffic accidents.
Part of Ladd Lane is now filled with crooked lines designed to keep drivers concentrated as if one wrong move will send them falling down Rainbow Road.
During Monday's City Council meeting, the city plans to approve $61,400 for public outreach and a post-construction traffic study report to see exactly what the Ladd Lane and Southside Road Traffic Calming Project did for traffic.
The council recommends the adoption of a resolution to authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute an amendment to Task Order No. 2020-11 of the on-call professional services agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Ladd Lane repainting is as messy as its lines, no estimate on fixing
UPDATE Oct. 11, 2022, at 5:21 p.m.- Two months ago, a crooked street made national headlines for just how absurdly bad the job was.
As of Tuesday, the infamous Ladd Lane lines have no estimate to be fixed. KION reached out to the city for an update on the project.
Our contractor, Precision Grade, had until October 4th to complete the project. During the construction process, there were issues with the striping of the road. The City of Hollister did not formally accept the striping work. Both the Contractor and the City have made attempts to have the Subcontractor correct the striping work. To date, the subcontractor has not agreed to return and complete the project.
City of Hollister
A special meeting was held on Sept. 26 to try and substitute the contractor to finish the job. The process to substitute the subcontractor is currently underway, as only City Council can substitute a subcontractor who fails or refuses to perform their job, said the city.
The contractor for the project is Precision Grade and the subcontractor is Sierra Traffic Markings.
Hollister crooked street lines on Ladd Lane will be repainted
Going down one neighborhood road in Hollister is like you were wearing beer goggles.
It looks like a scene out of the video game Mario Kart. Going down Ladd Lane, there are painted crooked traffic lines. Drivers either follow it or ignore it. Some find it funny, yet they want to see the problem fixed right away.
For many people in Hollister, the crooked street lines surprised them.
"I was shocked," said Ralph Melgargeo, a longtime resident. "I thought I was in another country. Little did I know it was right down the neighborhood."
"It did take me by surprise because I didn't believe it," said Marcus Guvera of San Juan Bautista. "I went through it, and I was like, dang, they were right. It was all swervy and curvy."
Read more: Hollister to use crooked street mistake to host kart race event
The mistake even surprised Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velasquez.
"I was like, 'Oh my! That' 's not the plan," said Ignacio.
The curvy lines had many drivers confused and puzzled.
"I honestly was really confused because it was really swervy to me," said Guvera. "There were two lanes, like a merge lane and a straightaway lane. I just drove in the straightaway lane. But I do think they need to fix it."
Mayor Velasquez said the mistake came from a contractor who did not correctly read the project plans. Velasquez adds the contract will be fixing the error soon. The project was designed to have a few waves on the road, just not as sharp.
"What we are doing here is creating a safer street," said Velasquez. "This street has been used by people drag racing for waiting too long, a tragedy waiting to happen."
KION asked the mayor who the contractor was for the project, but he declined to name the company.
Because the contractor made the mistake, Velasquez said the repainting would not cost taxpayers.
