Silicon Valley BART, SMART, Highway 37 among winners in state grant contest

The California Transportation Commission (CTC) this week approved a dozen grants totaling more than $400 million to advance key mobility projects around the Bay Area. 

These awards, made through a trio of competitive grant programs established by the landmark 2017 Senate Bill 1 transportation financing package, include $73 million for the Highway 37 Sears Point-to-Mare Island Improve Project sponsored by MTC, Caltrans and North Bay county transportation agencies; a pair of grants totaling $100 million to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for the ongoing second phase of its BART-to-Silicon Valley extension project; and two grants totaling $87 million to help the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART) extend service from the newly opened Windsor station north to Healdsburg. 

MTC, Caltrans, the Napa Valley Transportation Authority, the Solano Transportation Authority and the Sonoma County Transportation Authority will use the newly approved SB 1 grant — awarded Thursday through the Trade Corridors Enhancement Program — for the $251 million second phase of the Sears Point-to-Mare Island improvements, designed to relieve congestion and accommodate bus service through the 10-mile segment where there is now just a single lane in each direction. This part of the three-phase project will include the addition of a second eastbound lane and work to restore critical marshlands east of Mare Island that protect the roadway from rising waters. 

The CTC on Thursday awarded SMART $62 million in SB 1 money through the Solutions for Congested Corridors plus another $25 million on Friday through the Local Partnership Competitive Program. These dollars will be matched by $187.7 million in other state, federal, regional and local funds already secured to extend the railway to Healdsburg from its current terminus in Windsor, to complete segments of the adjacent SMART Pathway and the Great Redwood Trail for bicyclists and pedestrians, and to buy a zero-emission locomotive. 

VTA, which began construction on the second phase of its BART-to-Silicon Valley extension project last year, will use $75 million awarded Thursday through the Solutions for Congested Corridors and $25 million awarded Friday through the Local Partnership Competitive Program to continue work to bring BART from Berryessa/North San José through downtown San José to Santa Clara. The six-mile extension will feature four new stations — three underground and one ground-level — along with a new maintenance and storage facility, expanding the service area of the Bay Area’s largest high-speed, high-capacity electrified commuter rail system.

Other Bay Area projects receiving CTC awards:

• $58.5 million through the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program to the Contra Costa Transportation Authority for its ongoing Interstate 680 / State Route 4 Interchange Improvement Project to relieve congestion and improve traffic operations along both highways.
• $41 million in Solutions for Congested Corridors money to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for its Train Control Upgrade Project, which will modernize the entire Muni Metro light-rail system with communications-based train control technology.
• $30 million to Caltrans and the Alameda County Transportation Commission through the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program to construct safety improvements at 24 at-grade railroad crossings in Alameda County and to prevent trespassing at two other locations in the county.
• $14.6 million through the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program to Caltrans and Prologis Mobility for their Freight Logistics Electrification for Emission-free Transport (FLEET) project in Hayward. FLEET will support accessible and reliable charging stations for use by as many as 252 electric trucks daily, helping to reduce emissions and foster economic growth.
• $2.5 million in Trade Corridor Enhancement Program cash to Caltrans for the Electrifying Priority Trade Corridors project, which will develop the first publicly accessible charging depot for heavy-duty electric vehicles on Port of Oakland property. The project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, improving air quality and environmental health for communities near the port and along key freight corridors such as Interstates 80, 880 and 580.
• $14 million in Trade Corridor Enhancement Program money to the San Mateo County Transportation Authority and the City of Redwood City for reconstruction of the U.S. 101 / State Route 84 interchange to replace all ramps and widen Woodside Road to three lanes in each direction between Bay Road and the northbound US 101 off-ramp at Seaport Boulevard.
• $14 million through the Local Partnership Competitive Program to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for its Howard Street Streetscape project, which will establish a two-way protected bicycle lane, a landscaped median separating the bikeway from traffic, bulb-outs and raised crosswalks to shorten crossing distances, and parking lanes on both sides of the street. The roadway will be reduced to two general purpose vehicle travel lanes.