$359 MILLION IN NEW FUNDING WILL UPGRADE STATE’S TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AND PAVE WAY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH

Today's Date:  October 9, 2013

District:            04-Oakland                         

Contact:            Bob Haus 

Phone:             (510) 286-5576                 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   

$359 MILLION IN NEW FUNDING WILL UPGRADE STATE’S TRANSPORTATION

SYSTEM AND PAVE WAY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH

Bay Area gets $140 million from high-speed rail bond

SACRAMENTO – The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has allocated

$359 million to 36 projects, an investment that will create jobs bolstering the state’s economy, reduce traffic congestion, repair highways and bridges, and improve rail service.        

“These projects allow millions of dollars to flow into construction and produce enormous economic benefits for California,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) received $140 million from Proposition 1A, the high-speed rail bond, to purchase 46 new rail cars that will provide new service from the BART/Caltrain Millbrae Station directly to San Francisco International Airport.

The Millbrae facility is one of several key regional connectivity points California’s High-Speed Rail Authority has identified that will link BART and high-speed rail, creating a “blended” rail system. To handle additional transferring of passengers at Millbrae from the blended system longer trains will be needed. The $140 million will help pay to lengthen all three rail storage tracks at the south end of the station, enabling the facility to handle BART’s maximum train length of 10 cars and make it possible to run longer trains from the East Bay to the airport.

The allocations also include $44 million from Proposition 1B, a 2006 voter-approved transportation bond. To date, nearly $17 billion in Proposition 1B funds have been put to work statewide for transportation purposes. The remaining $175 million in allocations came from various state and federal transportation accounts. 

Other highlights of the CTC funding allocations include:

$16,853,000 to replace the Mococo off ramp from southbound Interstate 680, and to retrofit the Mococo Overcrossing Bridge in Marina Vista, Contra Costa County.

$16,584,000 to replace the 82-year old San Francisquito Creek Bridge on U.S. Route 101 at the San Mateo-Santa Clara County line with a new, seismically safe structure that will also provide 100-year flood protection, in partnership with the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority.

For information about all projects that received allocations, please contact Bob Haus.

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