$660M Promised For I-680/Hwy 4 Interchange, 13 Bay Area Projects

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA — Thirteen Bay Area transportation projects were promised more than $660 million from the money expected to be raised by Senate Bill 1, transportation officials said this week.
The highway, transit and goods-movement projects received the awards through three competitive state programs established by SB 1, legislation including a gas tax that went into effect in November. The
California Transportation Commission is administering the awards.

The largest of the California Transportation Commission awards for the Bay Area is a $233 million commitment to Caltrans and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency. This award comes through the Solutions for Congested Corridors program, according to the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

The project would establish express lanes along both directions of U.S. Highway 101 from state Highway 237 in Mountain View through San Mateo County to Interstate Highway 380 near San Francisco International Airport, according to the MTC.

The billions expected to be raised by SB 1 would primarily come from a 12-cent-per-gallon hike in the gas tax, a 20-cent hike in the per-gallon tax on diesel fuel and a new annual vehicle fee called the "Transportation Improvement Fee."

The money is intended to fix potholes, repave roadways, reduce congestion and improve public transportation, among other things.

SB 1 has encountered pushback. Democratic state Sen. Steve Glazer, whose East Bay district includes Walnut Creek, Antioch, Pleasanton and Livermore, voted against the bill.

Glazer said the bill failed to ensure that any new transportation funding given to local transportation agencies be used only for the purposes intended.

Some Republicans are advocating for a repeal of the law, and there has been talk of an initiative for the November ballot to that effect.

In the awards announced Wednesday, Caltrans was allocated $85 million to complete the final Sonoma County portion of the multi-phase widening of Highway 101 through the Marin-Sonoma Narrows, the MTC said. This grant also was awarded through the Solutions for Congested Corridors program.

The Port of Oakland will benefit from $187.4 million in 2018 Trade Corridor Enhancement Program Grants to construct two projects of its GoPort program: the Seventh Street grade separation and the Freight Intelligent
Transportation System.

Of the $187.4 million, $175 million will go toward the Seventh Street grade separation, which will carry Seventh Street over railroad tracks serving the port, according to the MTC. The Alameda County Transportation Commission is the recipient of the $175 million through the corridor enhancement program.
The Freight Intelligent Transportation System will cost $12.4 million.

Also under the enhancement program, Caltrans and the Solano Transportation Authority were awarded $53 million to begin a second phase of the reconfiguration of the Cordelia Junction between Interstate Highway 80 and state Highway 12.

The VTA is slated to receive $4 million to develop plans for a new Highway 101/state Highway 25 interchange south of Gilroy and $4 million was awarded for the City of Emeryville to improve at-grade rail crossings.
Projects approved by the California Transportation Commission under the competitive Local Partnership Program include $34 million to the Contra Costa Transportation Authority to upgrade the Interstate Highway 680/state Highway 4 interchange.

Also under the partnership program, $20 million was promised for San Mateo County agencies to advance the Highway 101 Express Lanes project; $17 million for the VTA to improve the Highway 101 and Highway 237 interchanges with Mathilda Avenue; $15 million for the Alameda Contra Costa Transit District to buy hybrid buses; $7 million for improvements to Jefferson Street in San Francisco; and $3 million to upgrade Rumrill Boulevard in San Pablo.

By Bay City News Service

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