Jerry Fouts: North County Corridor will ruin my air and my neighborhood

Looking at the North County Corridor plan, you can't convince me that an increase in traffic in my neighborhood will not have an affect on particulate matter in the air. Why is this not a “project of concern”?

I’m blown away by all the environmental work the county has done to protect certain species, but what about ME! I saw nothing explaining how more traffic makes my life healthier. Look up the incidence of asthma in high-traffic areas.

To say further study isn’t warranted because clean-air requirements are met is simply not good enough. Transparency requires you to ensure the health of my family does not suffer because of the bad judgment of Caltrans and Stanislaus County.

Bringing this poorly planned intersection to Atlas Road will impact my neighborhood and future neighborhoods south of Highway 108 east of Stearns Road. It is the product of either poor planning or political cronyism.

Among the discarded options was a plan that continues the bypass along Warnerville to Whilms Road and connects to Highway 120 beyond Lovers Leap. That was a far better option.

Caltrans said the plan was Stanislaus County’s; Stanislaus County said it came from Caltrans. This project is not smart or healthy or strategic; it was planned with either politics or greed in mind.

I want a name to attach to this poor plan so I can look them straight in the eye and ask, “Was this your idea to bring worse air, worse congestion and worse noise to my neighborhood?”

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Jerry Fouts: North County Corridor will ruin my air and my neighborhood."