Today's Date: August 21, 2014
District: Oakland, District 4
Contact: Walter Wallace
Phone: (510) 286-6115
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CALIFORNIA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ADOPTS 148
BIKING AND WALKING PROJECTS IN NEW ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM
Commission also
allocates $706 million to repair highways and bridges, improve road safety and
reduce congestion
Oakland – The California
Transportation Commission (CTC) today adopted 148 biking and walking projects,
collectively valued at more than $430 million, in the state’s 2014 Active Transportation Program (ATP),
making it the nation’s largest. The CTC will allocate nearly $221 million to
the projects at its future meetings.
“We
started the Active Transportation Program to establish California as a national
leader in developing bike and pedestrian facilities,” said California State
Transportation Agency Secretary Brian Kelly. “This program adopted today is the
nation’s largest state commitment to bicycling, walking and other forms of
active transportation. This program will increase transportation options for
all Californians while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving public
health and safety.”
“Today’s
transportation system is more than just highways,” said Caltrans Director
Malcolm Dougherty. “Our Active Transportation Program supports a healthy,
active lifestyle that also helps achieve California’s safety, mobility and
greenhouse gas reduction goals.”
Last
year, Governor Brown signed legislation (Senate Bill 99,
Chapter 359
and Assembly Bill 101,
Chapter 354)
creating the ATP. The new program replaced a patchwork of small grant programs
with a comprehensive program. Here are some of the significant projects adopted
under the new active transportation program:
East Bay Greenway—Alameda CTC
|
|
Complete Streets Implementation for San Pablo Ave and Buchanan
St—Albany
|
|
International Blvd Ped Lighting and Sidewalk Repair—Oakland
|
|
LAMMPS/Laurel, Mills, Maxwell Park and Seminary Active
Transportation Connection
|
--Oakland
|
San
Francisco Safer Streets—SFMTA
HWY
101 Ped/Bike Overcrossing—East Palo Alto
Click here to view a list of
all 148 adopted ATP projects. Detailed information about the ATP can be found on Caltrans’ website. The adopted
projects comprise two components: the Statewide Program ($183.8 million for 126
projects) and the Small Urban/Rural Program ($37.3 million for 22 projects). Nearly
87 percent ($191.5 million) of the funds for these components are directed at 130
projects that benefit disadvantaged communities.
- MORE -
“Making it easier and more convenient to walk and bike is a direct
investment in our health,” said Mary D. Nichols, Chairman of the California Air
Resources Board. “This funding will help cities and counties throughout
California take steps to fight air pollution and reduce greenhouse gases.”
Caltrans
received approximately 770 applications from cities and counties across
California, totaling nearly $1 billion in project requests, an excess in demand
of three-to-one. California’s nine largest Metropolitan Planning Organizations
(Bay Area, Fresno, Sacramento, San Diego, Southern California, San Jose,
Stanislaus, Tulare, and Kern) are still eligible to recommend projects to the
CTC on an additional $147 million in active transportation funds designated
specifically to their regions based on population. The CTC will adopt projects
submitted by MPOs in November.
Continuing
the drive to rebuild California’s transportation infrastructure, the Commission
also allocated nearly $706 million in funding to 125 transportation projects
that will improve and maintain the state’s vital transportation system. More
than $552 million of the funding will pay for “fix it first” projects that will
repair bumpy pavement, preserve roads in good condition to prevent them from
deteriorating, upgrade aging bridges and make roads safer for all.
“To
get the most bang for the buck for taxpayers, Caltrans targets dollars where
they are most effective - pavement preservation,” said Dougherty. “Every $1
spent on preventive pavement maintenance saves Californians $8 that would have
been spent on expensive pavement repairs.”
The
allocations also include nearly $21 million from Proposition 1B, a
transportation bond approved by voters in 2006. To date, more than $17 billion
in Proposition 1B funds have been put to work statewide for transportation
purposes.
Here
are some of the significant projects that will improve and/or preserve
California’s valuable investments in its transportation system that received
allocations:
Rehabilitate
6 miles of roadway in St. Helena, Napa County $19,017,000
Rehabilitate
50 miles of roadway along Route 80/580 Junction in Alameda County $13,091,000
Please
see the attached file for more information about all projects that received
allocations at today’s Commission meeting.
# # #