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Hale Avenue Extension Project
The City Council awarded the construction contract to DeSilva Gates Construction for $14.1M at the November 18, 2020 meeting. Construction is largely funded by VTA’s Measure B Program ($16.5M). The funding for the project was approved at the June 17, 2020 City Council Meeting. City Council certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) and adopted the Hale Avenue Plan Line on August 23, 2017.
The project will be constructed in two Phases. This will allow Valley Water’s Llagas Creek Flood Control project to install underground improvements first. The first phase (awarded to DeSilva Gates) will construct Hale Avenue between the Spring/Dewitt intersection to Warren Avenue. The second phase will construct Hale Avenue between Warren Avenue and 300 feet north of the Main/Hale intersection as soon as the Flood Control project improvements are complete.
Funded by Measure B and Traffic Impact Funds
Project Updates
The Hale Avenue Extension Project is a significant and long-planned transportation improvement for the City of Morgan Hill. Although the West Dunne Avenue roundabout is now open, traffic controls and one-lane traffic may occur intermittently as intersection improvements are completed. Traffic may detour around the closure by using Spring Avenue, Monterey Road and West Dunne Avenue.
The section of roadway between West Dunne Avenue and Dewitt Avenue is anticipated to open in late May. The project is mostly complete with the exception of punch list items, repair work and landscaping. The section of roadway between West Dunne Avenue and Main Avenue is scheduled to open in January/February 2024 with the completion of the Valley Water Project in that area.
Residents and businesses in the impacted area will receive a notice from the contractor prior to work beginning in the area. Any parking restrictions will be posted on the affected streets a minimum of 72 hours prior to the operation. For your safety, please travel through work zones/detours carefully or utilize alternative routes and plan for extra travel time when traveling through the work zones. The City appreciates your cooperation and apologizes for any inconveniences while construction is underway as there will be some construction noise, minor inconveniences, and traffic delays. For questions or additional information, please contact us at constructionconcerns@morganhill.ca.gov.
Please respect all construction signage, as it is there for your safety and the safety of the workers. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
Hale Avenue Extension Project Map
Hale Avenue Extension Project Update Email 3/11/2021
Hale Avenue Extension Project Update Email 9/22/2022
Hale Avenue Extension Project Update Email 10/21/2022
Information about How to Navigate a Roundabout
Additional Project Information
The Hale Avenue extension project was awarded by the Morgan Hill City Council on November 18, 2020. The project will commence construction in March-April 2021. More updates on construction will be available on this page in early 2021.
City Council certified the Final Environmental Impact Report for the project in August 2017. City Council also adopted a Plan Line for Hale Avenue and City Council has approved the purchase or condemnation of all of the right of way needed for the project. Project Plans are 95% complete. The construction phase will be funded mainly with the County’s Measure B tax initiative. The City is currently in discussions with the Valley Transportation Authority and the County of Santa Clara on the timing of receiving funding to allow for the project to commence. It is anticipated the project will begin construction in the Fall of 2020 should funding be approved.
Past Meetings
- City Council Meeting on Hale Ave Project Award - Nov. 18, 2020, at 7 p.m.
- Town Hall Meeting for Hale Avenue Project - June 11, 2020, at 5:30 p.m.
- City Council Mtg on Hale Ave Funding Agreement - June 17, 2020, at 7 p.m.
Environmental Impact Report and Plan Line
The project was delayed due to a lack of funding with the loss of RDA in 2012. City staff and elected officials worked to have the project included in the Countywide Measure B funding and with the passage of Measure in November 2016 the project funding was restored. An Environmental Impact Report was prepared and released for comment in 2017 along with a final plan line.
- August 23, 2017, City Council Approval of EIR and Plan Line
- Plan Line and Environmental Impact Report
General Plan and Circulation Element
With the completion of the City’s Circulation Element Update in February 2010, the Morgan Hill City Council asked staff to undertake a community engagement effort to obtain feedback on this roadway project. The goal of the outreach was to obtain feedback on what the project should look like and when it should be built.
Public meetings were held on November 4, 2010, and December 9, 2010, at the City’s Community and Cultural Center. At these meetings city staff and consultants presented background information on the project, traffic analysis specifically developed for the project, and various design elements. Meeting attendees were asked for their feedback and comments on what adjustments and impacts should be considered before moving forward with the current location plan (PDF).
Materials from the outreach meetings can be obtained as follows:
| Date | Documents |
|---|---|
| November 4, 2010 meeting | PowerPoint presentation (PDF) Meeting summary notes (PDF) |
| December 9, 2010 meeting | PowerPoint presentation (PDF) Meeting summary notes (PDF) |
| July 19, 2011 meeting | Powerpoint presentation (PDF) Meeting summary notes (PDF) |
Staff will provide the feedback received during the community engagement process to the City Council and present design concepts that reflect that feedback. The City Council will then consider how to proceed with the project.
The August 24th, 2011 (PDF) staff report to City Council.
Information on roundabouts can be found on the Department Of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
Long-Planned Arterial Corridor
A community should have a roadway system that distributes traffic throughout town taking into account land uses, population densities, and travel patterns. The arterial roadways, which are the backbone of a street network, should be placed such that vehicles can move efficiently and safely north-south and east-west.
Santa Teresa Boulevard has been a planned arterial corridor in the City’s General Plan since 1969. In the city’s current General Plan adopted in 2001, Santa Teresa Boulevard is the major north-south arterial road to the west of Monterey Road and was planned to have 4 lanes (2 lanes in each direction).
Currently, north-south traffic west of Monterey Road must take a circuitous route through residential neighborhoods where cars come in and out of driveways and neighborhood pedestrian activity occurs. Should the Santa Teresa Boulevard connection be constructed, north-south traffic will use an arterial street that won’t have houses fronting the street, thus providing a safer and more efficient means of driving north or south through the western part of Morgan Hill.
Capital Improvement Project:
The city began work on the conceptual design on this portion of Santa Teresa Boulevard in 2007. A “neighborhood meeting” was held May 22, 2008, to inform residents of the project and answer questions. Shortly thereafter, preliminary results of a Citywide Transportation Demand Modeling Study were received by city staff (as an administrative draft study) and the conceptual design was placed on hold until the modeling study was completed and impacts to this roadway project were understood. The draft study forecasted that less roadway capacity would be needed throughout the city compared to the previous traffic model, which was 10 years old and completed prior to the widening of Highway 101 north of Morgan Hill.
The final Modeling Study recommended that this section of Santa Teresa Boulevard be reduced from a 4-lane arterial to a 2-lane multi-modal arterial (1 lane in each direction, plus pedestrian and bicycle paths).
Updated Circulation Element Adopted
The updated Circulation Element (PDF) was adopted by the City Council at its meeting on February 24, 2010. The downsizing of Santa Teresa from 4 lanes to 2 was made official by that action.
Additional Information: Neighborhood Street Analysis
Due to the level of interest in the effects of implementing the Santa Teresa Corridor, the City of Morgan Hill had Fehr and Peers (transportation consultants) prepare a neighborhood street analysis to estimate the shifts in traffic if the city built the roadway from Main Avenue to Spring Avenue. Hale Avenue/Santa Teresa Boulevard Extension - Neighborhood Street Analysis (PDF).
The memo concludes that traffic would shift from Monterey Road, Peak Avenue, and DeWitt Avenue, to Santa Teresa Blvd. between Main and Spring Avenues and that levels of traffic on neighborhood streets in the area would be reduced. The Santa Teresa Extension is a more direct route for traffic from northwest Morgan Hill to/from southwest Morgan Hill and reduces through traffic from neighborhood streets designed for local traffic. It will also improve emergency vehicle access.