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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

February/March 2007

Funding Update:
Infrastructure Bond Money Starts to Flow

Caltrans Director Will Kempton (left), San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (middle) and Governor Schwarzenegger gather at the Presidio to celebrate the awarding of $405 million to replace Doyle Drive with a parkway.
(Photo: John Huseby, Caltrans)

MTC and its partners are cheering the recent decision by the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to set aside $1.7 billion in new funding for Bay Area transportation projects. The funds largely derive from the $19.9 billion transportation infrastructure bond package that the state’s voters handily approved on the November ballot.

Within days of passage of Proposition 1B, MTC issued a call for projects for the first increment of money — $4.5 billion statewide from the newly created Corridor Mobility Improvement Account to alleviate congestion. MTC mobilized to identify projects that were worthy and ready, and to get buy-in from local cities and counties. By the time January rolled around, the region could present a unified front to the CTC on a $2 billion proposal, with the accent on completing the region’s carpool-lane network. The long-delayed reconstruction of Doyle Drive, which functions as San Francisco’s approach to the Golden Gate Bridge, also was part of the mix.

When the dust settled on the statewide sweepstakes, the CTC had earmarked funds for 19 Bay Area projects, including $175 million for the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel; $174 million to construct high-occupancy-vehicle lanes along a stretch of Interstate 580 in Alameda County; and $405 million for the Doyle Drive project. For a complete list, go to www.mtc.ca.gov/funding.
— Brenda Kahn

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