June 10, 2004

Dando to improve Almaden Expressway’s light synchronization
and elimination of ‘chip seal’
Transportation forum targets road, transit improvements,
federal transportation dollars

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

While several countywide sales tax initiatives to fund transportation projects have been successful, more needs to be done to bring additional improvements to roads and transit, said participants of a Monday evening forum on transportation priorities.

Leading the forum at the Santa Clara Valley Water District headquarters in Almaden Valley was Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the nonprofit Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, an organization that involves companies with local, regional, state and federal government officials to address major public policy issues affecting the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley.

“We don’t take time to celebrate our successes and yet the people of our community have a lot to be proud of in terms of regional planning and taxing themselves to pay for many transportation improvements,” said District 10 San Jose City Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Pat Dando, adding that the completion of Highway 85 was funded by the passage of the 1984 Measure A sales tax initiative, which also funded widening Highway 101 between San Mateo County and South San Jose and widening Highway 237.

“Traffic is always an issue, wherever you go in the city and in the county. We have made a lot of improvements but we have a long way to go,” Dando added, promising to focus immediately on citizens’ requests to better synchronize traffic lights along Almaden Expressway and to replace the gravel-like “chip seal” with the more smooth-asphalt-like “slurry seal” to repave neighborhood streets.

“Chip seal is hard for children to play in. Cars spew it up. It cracks windshields. People track it into their homes. It scratches floors. It’s not a good method of paving in neighborhoods,” Dando complained.

Guardino expressed optimism about the continuation of Proposition 42, passed overwhelmingly by voters March 5, 2002, which mandated that more than $1.4 billion a year of gasoline sales tax receipts be spent on roads and rail lines.

Former Gov. Gray Davis and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had moved to shift $4 billion from traffic relief to bail out the state’s general fund and wanted to rescind the Traffic Congestion Relief Plan Fund, or $5.3 billion, but now the governor supports Proposition 42, has earmarked $383 million for transportation improvements in his May revision of the state budget and no longer wants to rescind the fund.

The governor has also asked the California Transportation Commission to evaluate projects in the traffic congestion relief plan based on whether they’re for a region that has an important economic impact on California; the land use patterns proposed make sense, and the creation of additional jobs to put people back to work.

For her part, Dando, who’s chairwoman of The National League of Cities (NLC) Transportation Infrastructure and Services Committee, said she’s working to get the reauthorization of the federal transportation authorization legislation, formerly called “TEA-21,” which stands for Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.

Dando said former Congressman Norman Mineta helped lead the drafting of the six-year federal bill. “We’ve had such good representation in Washington with people who have been very thoughtful about the need for transportation as it relates not only to the quality of life, but to economic development and having a healthy economy,” she said. “Whether or not the rest of the country likes to hear this, so goes California’s economy, so goes the rest of the nation on many, many cases. We have more reason to encourage our people in Washington to make sure they’re allocating the money we feel is necessary to cover the needs of cities across the nation.”

She said the NLC is asking for $318 billion, included in the senate legislation, to meet transportation needs across the country. The house legislation is asking for $275 billion and the president’s proposal is asking for $250 billion for transportation needs.

“It’s not new money. It’s not money that’s going to have to be taxed by some other source. It’s not going to take away from some other need. This is money that you pay every time you fill up your car,” Dando said, adding that most federal dollars used for transportation needs come from gas tax revenue, which can only be used for transportation.

Forum participants were asked to fill out forms addressed to Gov. Schwarzenegger, state legislative leaders, President George W. Bush and members of congress urging them to protect state and federal transportation dollars.

Dando said the federal legislation will plan for transportation needs in the next six years, “because it’s not easy putting together a transportation plan that can be built in one, two or three years.” And she warned, “If the federal government continues to delay passing a six-year bill, that puts us farther and farther behind. We can’t plan on yearly increments.”

Dando said a conference committee has been formed at the federal level to reconcile the two differing bills and the administration’s proposal. Its members include Sen. Barbara Boxer and Congressman Richard Pombo.
Dando encouraged meeting attendees to contact their local congressional delegates and other elected officials about their transportation concerns.

Other transportation concerns
Guardino asked participants to share their top priorities for roads, street maintenance and pothole repair, bicycle and pedestrian needs, intelligent transportation systems and transit in general such as bus, light rail and heavy rail.

Many asked for improvements to Highways 280 and 101.

Bob Boydston, president of the Almaden Valley Community Association (AVCA), said Almaden Expressway’s condition would further deteriorate with the development of the Almaden Youth Soccer Field complex. He said an environmental study has shown that the road’s condition will drop to the lowest level. “No development should be approved if it drops below a level B, yet Almaden Expressway has dropped… We’ve had to abandon this road and we’ve seen it decline and decline,” he said.

Plans to expand Almaden Expressway to Camden Avenue from four lanes to six lanes and from eight lanes between Coleman Avenue and Blossom Hill Road are on the way, he said, but he noted, “with the ultimate build out of Coyote Valley that Almaden Expressway is going to get so congested that people won’t use it and they’ll get off and look for alternative roads. This is serious because that’s the main artery out of the Almaden Valley.”

Almaden resident Ron Siporen suggested improving Highways 280 and 87. “Try to improve the onramp at Capitol Expressway onto 87 North. It’s a serious problem for the people in our district.”

Almaden resident Pat McMahon complained about the quality of road signage, particularly the signage in the off ramp behind the shopping center off of Highway 85 onto Almaden Expressway. He also called for the elimination of diamond lanes on the highways. “I still can’t fathom how taking a substantial part of the capacity of freeways out of service at the exact time that is most needed is an improvement,” McMahon said. “They’re kid pools, they’re not removing drivers from the freeway. This should be removed from the sacred cow list.”

Zakhary Cribari, with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Riders Union, suggested improvements to the Highway101/680/280 interchange, calling it a “mess.” “We need to create grated ramps for Tully Road into 280/680 onto 101. Capitol Expressway/Yerba Buena Road needs to be separated. I don’t want oncoming traffic to be mixed with off going traffic.”

Greg West, a board member of the VEP Community Association, said improvements are needed to Highways 280 and 87 and at the intersection of Blossom Hill Road and Almaden Expressway, which he called the worst in the city.

He said Highway 85 exacerbates the problem with its on and off ramps on Almaden Expressway. He also said improvements are needed on Branham Lane between Highway 87 and Snell Avenue. He recommended extending light rail to Coyote Valley as opposed to the Capitol Expressway corridor extension.

Almaden resident Nancy Lascola asked about improvements to McKeon Road in light of the development of the sports complex, which is a county road. “Where will the money come from to improve this road?” she asked.

Under cyclists and pedestrian concerns, many participants asked for the completion of the Guadalupe Creek and the Los Alamitos Creek trails. Others, like Bart Thielges, chairman of the San Jose Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, said there are excellent, but hidden facilities in the county for cyclists which could be made available at a low cost.

Guardino, who cycles about 5,000 miles a year, said improvements are needed on Almaden Expressway toward McKeon because of debris, glass and lack of electronic loop detectors at intersections which sense the presence of cyclists and will cause the traffic light to turn.

Others said they would like to eliminate the no-left-turn restrictions during commute hours on streets like Almaden Expressway, Blossom Hill Road and Meridian Avenue.

In terms of transit issues, one woman said improvements are needed to directly connect the Bart to the airport. Others suggested synchronizing Caltrain and light rail where they come together. Others asked for extended bus service on evenings and weekends and would like better transfer connections with maybe the purchase of one ticket to use between transportation agencies.

Boydston said he thought the meeting was a “failure.” “It was too tightly controlled,” he griped.

Two items Boydston wanted to discuss was an e-mail he received from Almaden resident Kathleen Thorne about the city’s bus system and an article he published in the Almaden Times about light rail.

“Having just returned from Dublin, Ireland, I am strongly attuned to the lack of bus service here in San Jose and the surrounding areas. A couple of years ago, I tried using the bus system to get home from work, an eight-minute drive by car. It took an hour and a half, requiring two transfers and two 10-block walks. I can say from my own experience that in Washington, D.C., New York, Honolulu, Beijing China, and in Dublin, Ireland, travel by city bus is easy, convenient, cheap...and gets you just about anywhere you want to go. My vote would definitely be to expand our bus service to fully cover all areas of San Jose,” Thorne wrote in her e-mail.