Del Monte Forestr Property Owners FOREST NEWS September - October 2002  DMFPO issues 'strong protest' over delay in gate improvement DMFPO has issued a "strong protest" over a County action that is delaying relignment and safety improvements at the Highway 1 Gate entrance to Del Mone Forest. The County said it would consider the Gate improvements along with other changes in theForest called for in Measure A. Original plans called for the work sto start this spring with a fall completion date. DMFPO President Paul Woudenberg, in a letter to County Administrative Officer Sally Reed, said: "It has come to our attention that the... DMFPO President Paul Woudenberg, in a letter to County Administrative Officer Sally Reed, said: "It has come to our attention that the County has declined to allow the Pebble Beach Company to proceed as a separate matter with realignment and safety improvements to the Highway 68/Highway 1 Gate. Please accept this as our strong protest and as a request to reconsider your action. "The DMFPO is certainly not pushing for any speedy resolution of all of the planning issues surrounding the Company's recent submittal of plans for improvements in the Forest along the lines of development approved by the voters in Measure A. We are confident that the County and the Coastal Commission will adequately ensure that appropriate review of all these matters occurs, and that the normal approval process will apply in good fashion. "However, the gate improvements at the main entrance to the Forest are safety related and should proceed independently, regardless of what ultimately occurs with the rest of the plan. The Pebble Beach company has agreed to go forward with this segment of the plan now, and we feel that if one accident can be avoided, perhaps one life saved, then it is worth looking at this portion separate and apart from the rest. "There are three distinct categories of drivers that can pose significantly higher risks: 1) elderly citizens who perhaps are not as responsive and decisive as they one were when behind the wheel; 2) southbound speeders from Highway 68 heading across this exit to the freeway; and 3) tourists who are not familiar with the area and who may be easily distracted. We want to avoid the sort of accident that occurred at Via Mallorca on the Carmel Valley road, "We have a willing developer of the improvements, we have a deserving public, and we need to go forward with all due speed," Woudenberg said. Under the plan, all traffic on Highway 68 from Pacific Grove and Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula headed for Carmel will pass through the existing stoplight to a new, direct on-ramp adjacent to the freeway. Thus Pebble Beach residents no longer will face cross traffic when exiting the Highway 1 gate. The existing right turn lane to Carmel will remain. Right turn lanes from Highway 68 into Pebble Beach will be expanded.