Countdown starts for November vote on transportation sales tax Countdown starts for November vote on transportation sales tax (February 11, 2004)

By Marion Softky
Almanac Staff Writer

Decision time is coming fast for the next 20 years of transportation projects to ease congestion in San Mateo County.

In back-to-back meetings February 5, the staff of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority released a proposed list of projects to put on the November ballot.

San Mateo County voters will be asked to re-authorize the half-cent sales tax that has pumped close to $1 billion into Caltrain and other transportation projects since Measure A was first passed in 1988.

"The name of the game is to convince two-thirds of the voters," General Manager Mike Scanlon said to the Transportation Authority board.

To keep another $1.2 billion coming in from 2008 to 2028 for trains, buses, shuttles, and other projects to ease congestion, two-thirds of county voters must approve the new Measure A and its list of projects.

The proposed project list released last week was developed over more than a year of focus groups, polls, technical discussions, and public meetings. Now, the county, its 20 cities, and transit agencies must finalize the list in the next few months in order to put it on the November ballot.

The Transportation Authority board plans to OK a near-final list on March 18 to send to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for approval. To go on the ballot, the measure must also be approved by the county Board of Supervisors and at least 10 of the 20 cities in the county representing more than 50 percent of the population.

At a meeting last Thursday, Howard Goode of the Transportation Authority made the same presentation to the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG), an organization representing the county and its 20 cities.

Mr. Goode urged the cities to put the Measure A re-authorization on their agendas, starting this month, so they can fine-tune projects to meet their residents' needs and win their support. "We can tinker with the plan until the end of April," he said.

Transportation expert Jim Bigelow, with the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce, congratulated the Transportation Authority on a balanced approach. "Everybody wins, partly or considerably," he said.

The plan

Over the last year, the 20-page draft transportation expenditure plan has been whittled down from a wish list of $3.4 billion to $2.7 billion, Mr. Goode reported. The $2.7 billion may be feasible because the $1.2 billion raised by the new half-cent tax could attract matching grants from federal and state sources.

In the proposed plan, 30 percent of the funds would go to transit, 30 percent to highways, and 15 percent to build more grade separations at rail crossings -- overpasses or underpasses that separate the roadway from the railway. Cities would get 20 percent for local street and pothole projects, and the rest would go to projects for pedestrians and bicycles, and for programs to relieve congestion.

The breakdowns within each of these categories reflect many compromises -- and are sure to provoke controversy as the list enters the final stages of debate.

While Caltrain is recommended for 16 percent of total funds -- more than half of the 30 percent allocated to transit -- half of that could be applied to operating funds, under the proposed plan. Under the present Measure A, Caltrain funds have gone entirely to capital expenses; they bought the right-of-way for both the Peninsula main line and the corridor across the Dumbarton rail bridge.

Four percent of the transit money would go to buses and increasingly popular shuttles; and another 4 percent would fund the Redi-Wheels door-to-door service for the handicapped.

The proposed plan also includes two foot-in-the-door proposals not in the present Measure A. It proposes 2 percent -- $24 million -- each for a feasibility study of extending BART south of Millbrae; and for ferry terminals in South San Francisco and Redwood City. Another 2 percent would go to build stations for a proposed new trans-Bay commuter rail service across the old Dumbarton railroad bridge.

Highways, roads

Other proposed projects are also spread around the county. In the draft plan, highway funding is allocated to rebuild the interchange of Woodside Road with U.S. 101 in Redwood City, and to improve the access to the Dumbarton Bridge.

Money for grade separations would complete approximately seven-to-nine of the 34 remaining railroad crossings in the county. Four eligible candidates are in Menlo Park, two in Atherton.

Cities would continue to receive Measure A funds for local street and transportation improvements. Over 20 years, Atherton stands to gain an estimated $4.5 million; Menlo Park, $11.6 million; Portola Valley, $3.6 million; and Woodside, $4 million.

"Every project has a home, but there is not enough money to do everything," Mr. Goode said. Issues

Progress on ferries and Dumbarton rail depends on whether Bay Area voters approve the measure "RM-2" on the March 2 ballot. RM-2 would raise tolls on seven Bay Area bridges (not the Golden Gate) by $1 to fund a major package of transportation projects in the bridge corridors. "We will know before we meet again," Mr. Goode said.

Among the projects included in RM-2:

** Future Caltrain commute service across the old Dumbarton bridge to East Bay stations would receive $135 million for capital costs plus $5.5 million a year in operating costs.

** New ferry service connecting San Francisco, the East Bay, and two ports in San Mateo County would get $84 million in capital costs, plus an operating subsidy of $15.5 million a year.

Inclusion of money for BART -- even 2 percent -- continues to provoke controversy.

It is important to include BART because polls say county voters are very interested in BART, Mr. Goode said. He suggested a feasibility study of extending BART down the Peninsula might show once and for all how impractical it is.

BART from Millbrae to the county line would cost some $3 billion and could not happen for more than 15 years, he noted; several extensions in the East Bay and to San Jose are ahead of San Mateo County, and falling further behind in the fight for funding.

Mr. Goode suggested using some of the BART money to make improvements on the line to Millbrae and the San Francisco International Airport as needs develop.

Onolee Trapp of Portola Valley questioned putting $24 million into BART, when Caltrain, the backbone of transportation on the Peninsula, is being squeezed. "We need to sustain what we've got," she said. "We just don't have enough."

Transportation meetings coming up

Over the next couple of months, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority will host a number of workshops and open house meetings to present plans on "Our Transportation Future."

The last of six open houses, and the only one in the South County, will be held Thursday, February 26, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the East Palo Alto Community Room, 2415 Bay Road.

A special workshop will be held Saturday, February 28, starting at 10 a.m. at SamTrans headquarters, 1250 San Carlos Ave. in San Carlos. The workshop is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

Individual cities will also be scheduling times to discuss the programs

For information, call the Transportation Authority at 508-6200; or check www.smcta.com.

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