May 15, 2008

Smooth sailing on Peninsula roads

Despite woes, few local jams rate with Bay Area's worst

By Will Oremus / Daily News Staff Writer

For the Peninsula, the bad news from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's new congestion study is that San Mateo County saw the biggest one-year jump in gridlock of any county in the region - at 36 percent.

The good news is that the traffic on the Peninsula still flows far more freely than in most parts of the nine-county Bay Area.

None of the region's Top 10 congested locations was in San Mateo County, and the only one in Santa Clara County was far south of the Peninsula, in San Jose. Of the top 50, just five included stretches between Mountain View and San Francisco.

Relatively speaking, "Things really aren't that bad on the Peninsula," said MTC spokesman John Goodwin.

Asked about the one-year leap in San Mateo County congestion, he said part of that may be due to a statistical quirk: The MTC didn't update its traffic data for some stretches of freeway between 2003 and 2006, including several on the Peninsula.

Goodwin pointed out that while gridlock was up 36 percent this year in the county, it was up just 44 percent over four years, a figure comparable to that of other counties.

In general, he said, the Peninsula's traffic is kept in check by slow residential growth compared to East Bay counties. The main reason it has worsened since 2003 is likely its healthy job growth, which is bringing in commuters from farther afield.

The Peninsula's worst jam comes in 19th regionwide in total hours of vehicle delay. It's the northbound stretch of Highway 101 from Whipple Avenue in Redwood City to Hillsdale Avenue in San Mateo, which the MTC reports is typically clogged from 4:35 to 7:25 p.m. But even that is practically a cakewalk compared to the area's worst grind, Interstate 80 westbound from Route 4 in Contra Costa County to the Bay Bridge metering lights.

Caltrans is hoping to further ease traffic on Highway 101 with its ongoing project to add auxiliary lanes between exits. The current stage, which adds one lane in each direction between Millbrae Avenue and Third Avenue in San Mateo, is slated to be completed in 2011.





NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE

Here are the five stretches of Peninsula freeway that routinely had the worst traffic jams in 2007, along with their rank on the Bay Area-wide Top 50 list:



Location: Hwy. 101 NB from Whipple Ave. to Hillsdale Blvd.

Rank: 19

Duration: 4:35-7:25 p.m.

Daily delay (vehicle hours): 2,440



Location: Hwy. 101 NB from Hillsdale to Third Ave.

Rank: 28

Duration: 6:45-9:25 a.m.

Daily delay: 1,580 hrs.



Location: Hwy. 101 SB from SFO to Third Ave.

Rank: 33

Duration: 4:05-7:40 p.m.

Daily delay: 1,380 hrs.



Location: Hwy. 101 SB from Poplar Ave. to Hillsdale Blvd.

Rank: 40 (tie)

Duration: 8:10-10:35 a.m.

Daily delay: 1,210 hrs.



Location: I-280 from Page Mill Expwy. to Magdalena Ave.

Rank: 40 (tie)

Duration: 4:15-6:55 p.m.

Daily delay: 1,210 hrs.