Freeway Extension : State to Pull Plug on Last Traffic Light on Route 99

Livingston in the northern San Joaquin Valley finally will get a project that has been 30 years in the offing--a four-lane freeway extension that will eliminate the only remaining stoplight on California 99.

Traffic officials predict that the seven-mile, $45-million project just west of the current freeway will eliminate a chronic traffic problem and reduce the accident rate near Livingston’s downtown area.

“Probably more than 90% of the accidents are caused by people who aren’t driving with their heads screwed on right,” Alex Kennedy, Caltrans safety and investigations chief in Stockton, said of the intersection.

“It’s not a dangerous road. The people are dangerous.”

Kennedy said the existing stretch of highway has an actual accident rate that is about double the average rate for a similar type stretch. Most are rear-end accidents.

He estimated that the new freeway stretch could reduce the accident rate to one-sixth of what it now is.

The project, which will begin in 1989, still would be languishing in a dusty Caltrans file if City Manager Tony Diaz had not persistently reminded the state Transportation Commission of the freeway’s importance, said City Planning Director Mike Dosier.

Dosier also credits help from two powerful politicians, state Senate Majority Leader Ken Maddy (R-Fresno) and House Majority Whip Rep. Tony Coehlo (D-Calif.), who represents the Livingston area.

“It has taken 30 years to lobby this thing,” Dosier said. “Livingston doesn’t have a lot of political clout.”

It will give city officials “the opportunity to take care of some things that have been bothering them for several years,” like removing vacant packing sheds and removing blight in the business district, said Tom Skinner of Valley Planning Consultants. He is making plans to move businesses that will be bulldozed to spots near two new freeway off-ramps and a new pedestrian mall.

About 40 businesses and 64 homes will be demolished, but Skinner predicts that the freeway will enhance the small city’s downtown business district.

“There has been very little activity in the way of new construction in Livingston’s downtown over the past 20 years,” he noted.

The lives of Harinder Nagie and her husband, veterinarian Manjit Nagie, will be dramatically altered. Harinder Nagie’s Rocket Cafe on California 99 is slated for demolition, and her husband’s veterinary clinic and their rental housing also are in the bulldozer’s path.

They plan to relocate somewhere in town, but Harinder Nagie is uncertain whether their businesses will qualify for a relocation loan.