CalTrans
The San Francisco Chronicle offers a round-up of 11 big transit projects, by Caltrans, BART, SFMTA, and others, making progress around the bay.
San Francisco Chronicle
State and county officials gathered on Friday to celebrate the start of a $514 million project to convert carpool lanes to express lanes and connect auxiliary lanes to make for a lane addition. The 32-mile project on Highway 101 opens in 2022.
San Mateo Daily Journal
An upcoming project will raise the clearance height of connectors, but construction is expected to bring even more delays to the heavily used network.
San Francisco Chronicle
Sen. Scott Wiener introduced legislation to make state highways that run through villages, town, and cities, often acting as main streets, accommodate the safety needs of walkers, cyclists, and transit users when undergoing capital improvements.
Streetsblog California
After more than 60 years, a slew of new road projects will leave the debate about the Interstate 710 gap in the past.
Pasadena Star-News
Caltrans says signs on transportation projects are nothing more than a useful way to show taxpayers that gas tax funds are being put to good use. But not everyone agrees.
KPCC
Caltrans is studying a plan to widen 16 miles of Interstate 80 through Solano and Yolo counties, over the Yolo Bypass. Initially, the plan called for a carpool lane, but uncertainty about funding makes a toll lane a possibility.
The Sacramento Bee
That's how the Los Angeles Times editorial board characterized the $6 billion plan by Los Angeles Metro to widen the 710 freeway. "A waste of money," they assert. Key to the solution is how to deal with goods movement from the seaport complex.
Los Angeles Times
Caltrans hopes to build two 14-mile high-occupancy toll lanes on Hwy 101 in San Mateo County, one of the region's most congested corridors that lacks carpool lanes. The $534 million project would begin construction in 2019.
The Daily Journal
After withdrawing support for a controversial extension of the 710 Freeway, Los Angeles Metro is asking cities for local road improvements to improve traffic flow in its stead.
Pasadena Star-News
New legislation would continue the Clean Air Vehicle program after Jan. 1, 2019 to allow zero and near-zero emission vehicles to continue to qualify for carpool lane stickers in the Golden State.
Santa Monica Daily Press
The saga of the 710 Freeway will continue, as it has for decades. Now, however, a proposal to build a 6.3-mile tunnel from El Sereno to Pasadena, has lost key support from the regional transportation agency.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
A staple of the California driving experience will soon be a thing of the past.
The Mercury News
Was the I-405 widening project worth it for Los Angeles? Depends on whom you ask.
Los Angeles Times
The U.S. Department of Transportation is funding ways to transition from the gas tax to other user-based revenue mechanisms to fund transportation infrastructure. The federal gas tax hasn't keep pace with transportation expenditures since 2008.
U.S. D.O.T. Press Release
The ongoing build out of carpool lanes in Los Angeles County continues. A five-mile stretch of I-10 in the eastern portion of the county—a commuter corridor and a corridor frequented for getaways from L.A.—will be adding new capacity.
KPCC
Orange County, California transportation officials want to widen the 405 to reduce travel times and ease predicted congestion. The cities of Seal Beach and Long Beach are concerned about how that will impact traffic on surface streets.
KPCC
The California Road Charge Pilot will be the nation's second road usage charge program. Unlike OReGO, which launched last July, it is a pilot program that will last nine months, but like the Oregon program, it is restricted to 5,000 volunteers.
Streetsblog California
Remember the term "transportation alternatives," as in alternatives to motor vehicle transportation? It's not used much anymore, and for good reason. But more modern terms, e.g. road diet, need to be rethought as well, posits Nate Holmes for Medium.
Medium
Traffic fatalities in California have been rising since 2010, rising to 3,104 in 2013 after decreasing from 2006 to 2010. Experts point to several specific reasons for the increase; one of the most prominent may be in your hand right now.
The Sacramento Bee
