Join the Plan Bay Area Dialogue

Earth Day 2011 -- April 22 -- marks the one-year birthday of OneBayArea, an interagency effort launched on Earth Day 2010 to create a more sustainable Bay Area. The anniversary brings the start of a big push to gather public input on Plan Bay Area, a long-range planning effort that is the primary focus of the OneBayArea consortium. The outreach is both virtual -- with an online tool called YouChoose Bay Area -- and in-person via a series of public workshops scheduled in each of the nine counties in April and May.

In preparation for this intensive outreach, MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments have released two publications. Plan Bay Area: Building on a Legacy of Leadership, issues a call to action to the people of the Bay Area and their elected officials: "The Bay Area has made farsighted regional planning a top priority for decades. In fact, one of the main reasons our region is so livable today is because of the actions of past leaders. ...Plan Bay Area is about building on our legacy of leadership. It means doing more of what we've done well, and figuring out how to do better in the face of new challenges."

MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments also recently released the Plan Bay Area project's Initial Vision Scenario, showing where nearly a million new housing units could be developed, with much of that housing growth occurring in close proximity to public transit. You can view the publications at OneBayArea.org, or order hard copies from library@mtc.ca.gov.

You can view the outreach schedule and RSVP here.

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May Brings Traffic Shift at Bay Bridge Oakland Touchdown 

 

Heads up for a traffic shift coming in late May at the Oakland end of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, known as the touchdown. The maneuver will accelerate completion of the new Bay Bridge East Span, and is the latest in a series of traffic shifts that motorists have weathered as part of this complex seismic safety construction project.  

 

Right now, the westbound lanes of the existing East Span are in the way of completing the eastbound touchdown of the new East Span (in Oakland). A pair of traffic bypasses will alleviate the problem. Here's how the shift will work: 1) Crews are in the process of creating a new roadway just to the south of the existing touchdown that will open in late May as a bypass for eastbound traffic. 2) Crews will then demolish the existing touchdown's eastbound lanes and make way for a westbound detour that will open in early 2012. 3) Then the existing westbound touchdown lanes can be torn back to make way for the completion of the new East Span's eastbound touchdown. Watch our simulation for details about the traffic switch. 

A view of the Oakland touchdown. Photo ©2011 Barrie Rokeach

 

And here's the good news: Originally, the bridge was going to open in two phases. With the new bypass plan, engineers will be able to shave four to six months off the schedule and open both directions simultaneously in late 2013. In March, MTC's Bay Area Toll Authority allocated $74 million for the bypass plan.

 

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Towering Achievement: New East Span Tower in Place

In this aerial view, the last leg of the tower section is seen below the self-anchored suspension span deck as it rises up from the barge. Photo ©2011 Barrie Rokeach

Progress has been proceeding at an astonishing pace on the west end of the new Bay Bridge East Span (near Yerba Buena Island). In a weeklong, around-the-clock operation, crews in late February and early March installed the last tier of legs for the span's marquee tower. In mid-April, construction joint venture American Bridge/Fluor will crown the four legs with a cap that will tie them together into a single, tapering, elegant unit, and shortly after that, install the steel saddle that will cradle the main cable supporting the bridge. The East span project is being overseen by Caltrans, MTC's Bay Area Toll Authority and the California Transportation Commission, which together form the Toll Bridge Progam Oversight Committee.

See photos of the tower operation here. Watch construction in real-time here.  

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Bike to Work Day Rides Again

It's time to oil up your bike and flex your leg muscles for the San Francisco Bay Area's 17th Annual Bike to Work Day on Thursday, May 12, 2011. A popular highlight of National Bike Month, this day-long event encourages Bay Area residents to use two wheels rather than four. As in years past, energizer stations will be set up along popular Bay Area bike routes to provide cyclists with encouragement, refreshments, giveaways and information. Participants who register for Bike to Work Day will be automatically entered in a raffle for a new bike and bicycle gear.

In a related development, sign-ups for Team Bike Challenge opened April 1. In this friendly competition, bicycle teams of two to five riders try to log the most trips via bike through the month of May. Teams with the most points in each county win prizes. The top team overall wins a bike rack for placing in a location of their choosing. If you're forming a team, keep in mind that bicycling novices and "Big Wheels" (important members of the community) earn extra points for each ride. Sign up here, and for inspiration, see the video diaries created by last year's Team Bike Challenge competitors.

Meanwhile sponsors are soliciting nominations for Bike Commuter of the Year in each of the nine Bay Area counties. All entries must include the nominee's name, email, county and a brief write-up (200 words or less) on why he or she deserves the Bike Commuter of the Year award. All nomination entries must be submitted by April 14 via the online form.

Bike to Work Day and associated promotions are funded by MTC in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and other private and public sponsors.  

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Affordable Housing Gets Boost from MTC

A parking lot in San Francisco's hard-pressed Tenderloin neighborhood will soon sprout an attractive, 14-story apartment complex with 150 affordable family units. Fueling this development is a $4.8 million loan from the Bay Area Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Fund established by MTC and several partner organizations. MTC approved a $10 million anchor commitment for the revolving housing loan fund in March. Contributions from other sources will expand the pot to $50 million, an amount sufficient to support construction of up to 3,800 units of housing -- the bulk of which will be affordable -- in close proximity to transit hubs around the region over the next 10 years. The fund and other programs and incentives like it will be important tools in reducing driving and greenhouse gas emissions, and addressing transit-oriented housing targets to be established in Plan Bay Area (see above). Watch a video of the press event announcing the program here.

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Tunneling Begins on West Side of Caldecott Fourth Bore 

A long view of the west portal for the Caldecott fourth bore, which is at the far left on the west side. Photo by Karl Nielsen

After eight months of intense excavation on the Caldecott Tunnel fourth bore from the east end in Orinda, miners began to excavate from the west end in Oakland in mid-March. The two holes are anticipated to connect by this fall. Drilling on the west side is somewhat more complex than from the east on account of softer, more crumbly rock. Meanwhile, crews tunneling from the east side have been putting in back-to-back shifts, and by mid-March had progressed 1,175 feet along the 3,400-foot tunnel from that side. The current phase of tunneling is excavating just the upper half of the 50-foot wide tunnel. Once they meet, the boring machines will back out and begin to excavate the lower layer of the tunnel. The $391 million fourth bore project is being built with the help of $50 million in bridge toll funding from MTC, along with federal stimulus money and local sales tax funding, among other sources. Read more and view photos here.

 

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Follow Us

Follow MTC and and our sister agency, the Bay Area Toll Authority, on Facebook and Twitter.  

See a list of all our social media streams here -- get on board, and tell your friends and colleagues.

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