BIG CHANCE * Bay Bridge Bike Path * Weds, Jan 27 deadline
Updated 1/7/10; 1/15/10; 1/21/10
Will this pathway ever reach San Francisco?
View at left of East Span tower construction cranes and Yerba Buena Island from end of skyway construction, showing elevated 15.5-ft wide Alexander Zuckermann Pathway (Alex was EBBC's founder).
The current toll increase proposals are essential, but fail to address needed transportation improvements. Now is the time to address funding the West Span Bicycle-Pedestrian-Maintenance Pathway and expand transbay transit capacity.
Thanks for the great turn-out on Wednesday, Jan. 27. A full report is HERE.
While the below calls for action are out of date, our campaign continues and the background information is still useful. We will update this soon.
WE CAN DO IT! WE DID IT ONCE: LET'S TAKE THE PATH ALL THE WAY!
- PLEASE COME: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 9:30am (note time change -- arrive early and get a sign, fill out a speaker card!), MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth St, Oakland (opposite Lake Merritt BART)
- PLEASE WRITE: Use our action page to send a form letter at:
While the specific calls for action are out of date, the background information is useful and our campaign continues. We will update this page soon.
- PLEASE CALL: your MTC Commissioner directly:
If you prefer to contact them directly, you can find your two county commissioners and write, and preferably call, them to urge a vote in favor of FULL FUNDING of the "West Span Safety Path." CONTACT INFO HERE. (Also contact BCDC and ABAG representatives who are at large.)
Toll Increase Options Under Consideration:
The three toll options being considered by the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) all add up to a $160million/year additional money
to fund three things: (1) seismic retrofits of the Antioch and Dumbarton Bridges, (2) revenue enhancements to make up for declining traffic, and (3) increased debt financing. The East Bay Bicycle Coalition asks you to join our campaign for transportation improvements on the West Span by speaking out in support of the following proposal to "bridge the gap" between San Francisco and the Treasure Island neigborhood under development.
Our Ask: Modified "Congestion Pricing" Toll Option #3 (Alternate 1 or 2) to generate revenue needed to build the West Span Bicycle-Pedestrian-Maintenance Pathway & Transbay Transit Improvements
- Alt 2: Set non-peak SFOBB tolls to $5 to match tolls for other six bridges, and
- Maintain the $2 congestion pricing differential by establishing a $7 peak toll
Stay Connected:
- FACEBOOK EVENT: Click here and invite your friends!
- Watch our Sign Making Workparty Video
- TWEET: #bikethebridge
- CALLING ALL KIDS:
KIDS' COLORING CAMPAIGN: PRINT A CARTOON for kids to color and bring to the hearing. Give the younger generation a voice in their future!
"You're kidding me, right?"
You can review Caltrans' major study of the Safety Path: West Span Bicycle-Pedestrian-Maintenance Pathway Feasibility Study (2001) (8.6 MB, PDF). The MTC also commissioned a detailed Project Study Report on the West Span Bicycle-Pedestrian-Maintenance Pathway in April 2009. The project will enhance safety for motorists and workers. Routine bridge maintenance requires frequent, costly, lane closures. And without a shoulder, stranded motorists lack a refuge. This is ultimately a SAFETY PATH that more than pays for itself over time.
Written comments on the survey conducted by BATA showed that 37% of the respondents called for completing the pathway. This represents an incredible amount of grassroots support for an option that BATA did not identify. Imagine a write-in candidate receiving 37% of the vote.
The Cities of Emeryville and Berkeley have already adopted the SFOBB Resolution. It next goes for approval by the Berkeley City Council. We urge your community and organization to formally adopt the resolution supporting the West Span Bicycle-Pedestrian-Maintenance Pathway.
Our latest EBBC newsletter, January 2010 issue, has a front page article on the West Span Path. (Check our newsletters page for all back issues, also linked from a button at the top of every page.)
Comments
Victory at Berkeley City Council!
Video:
Indybay story with photos:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/20/18635784.php
Jan. 19: The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously last night for a resolution calling on the Bay Area Toll Authority to use congestion pricing to fund the West Span bicycle-pedestrian-maintenance path. The Bay Area Toll Authority votes on a new toll package on January 27, 9:30am (note time change -- arrive early and get a sign, fill out a speaker card!) at the MetroCenter Auditorium, 101-Eighth St., Oakland, across from Lake Merritt BART.
Despite rare inclement weather including rainstorms, high winds, thunder, lightning and hail, which might deter some bicyclists, dozens of supporters attended the meeting holding signs and banners. After the victory they chanted, "All the way across the Bay!"
The path will open the floodgates to a healthy, carbon-free commute, at the same time as it protects worker and driver safety, and saves money on bridge maintenance. An average cyclist can comfortably cross the Bay Bridge in 20 minutes. Providing a motorist refuge and reducing lane closures for maintenance will save lives and many millions of dollars over the lifespan of the bridge.
This campaign is supported by the entire Bay Area Bicycle Coalition, with member groups representing tens of thousands of Bay Area bicyclists.
COME TO THE HEARING JANUARY 27: THE BIG VOTE!
This is a purely political issue. Don't let bicycling and walking get shunted out again!
SEND A LETTER, MAKE A CALL!
http://ebbc.org/action/
Streetsblog quote from the MTC
Matthew Roth has published an article, "Bay Area Toll Authority Mulls Toll Increase Scenarios, Seeks Public Input," on Streetsblog. He quotes an MTC spokesman, "This is not about doing more stuff, this is about funding the stuff we've got." My response is, we've got a East Span bridge pathway to nowhere and a West Span Bridge that doesn't even offer motorists an emergency breakdown lane. Bridge the gap!
devil's advocate
Not to burst everyone's bubble, but from the same blog:
Raburn's proposal will likely be met with resistance, in part because the funding mechanisms in place at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the parent body of BATA, cannot easily transfer toll money for new projects, according to MTC spokesperson Randy Rentschler.
"This toll increase is being used for seismic measures," said Rentschler, who added that Regional Measures 1 and 2, which fund bicycle, pedestrian, and transit projects, are beneficiaries of toll money, but are already programmed and leave little room for projects like the west-span Bay Bridge path.
So what can we do about this, other than pushing the same point again? Is there an accountant in the house?
ADVOCACY REQUIRES ADVOCACY: Persistence is key
If we counted the number of times we had to face discouraging comments from staff at MTC or Caltrans in the winning campaign for the first half of the Safety Path, we would need many abacuses indeed.
Without persistence, we would not have made progress. There is no reason to believe the landscape has changed. Bicyclists must push and push to be considered.
Issues of cost, value, equity, and "will anyone ever ride this thing?" have been debated for years in the past with winning outcomes in favor of the path.
The cost is easily covered by a small portion of the toll increase; just choosing either congestion pricing option on the Bay Bridge alone will fully fund the path, and also boost seismic programs. Why give a discount, the current proposal, of $1 off-peak, to motorists, on the Bay Bridge in exchange for a wasted halfway construction of the path?
We are all anxious to get the results from the ongoing Project Study Report (PSR) being conducted by TYLin, which will contain latest cost estimates. Until then, however, the best cost estimate and design was published in Caltrans' West Span Bicycle-Pedestrian Maintenance Pathway Feasibilty Study (2001). That study identified a $160 million cost for the preferred option, including approaches. Of course costs have escalated since 2001, but according to a recent review of the past two years by the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority (ACTIA), "bids were roughly 41% less than Engineers’ Estimates.” The updated design work may also find new ways to save money.
Until then we must continue to push for this option!
PLEASE COME JANUARY 27, 9 AM (to get ready for short 9:30 AM meeting) METROCENTER AUDITORIUM, 101 - 8TH STREET (LAKE MERRITT BART).
PLEASE WRITE AND CALL YOUR BATA REPRESENTATIVES!
Show that this dream is yet alive and will succeed. Show that the 12 years spent to date, and the millions already invested, will realize their goal. To be silent is to turn our backs on this long and hard fought dream.
PLEASE COME * PLEASE WRITE
PLEASE COME * PLEASE WRITE
PLEASE COME * PLEASE WRITE