bay area

Slight decreases in traffic congestion due to the economic downturn are no reason to curtail aggressive transportation planning for looming population and employment growth in major metro regions. Despite the most fervent wishes of some planners, metro region growth in coming years will continue to be more away from, than to, high-density urban neighborhoods. This is due to due to several factors. For one, first- and second-ring suburbs have become regional employment centers, and cities in their own right. They are where people increasingly work, shop, play – and if finances permit, live. Examples in Central Puget Sound include Bellevue and Redmond to the east of Seattle, and (more affordable) Kent and Federal Way to the city’s south. Second, there Read More ›

Drawing from $19.9 billion in Prop. 1B voter-appproved bonding authority, a California commission has allocated $3 billion to help fund 79 road, rail, bridge, transit and other transportation projects. The bottom line of this summary shows the projects will cost $8 billion to complete, necessitating the usual cost-sharing with other jurisdictions. Included are more High Occupancy and Toll (HOT) lanes on 1-15 in San Diego, arterial lane additions in Yuba City, various rehab projects for crumbling roads statewide, replacement of an unsafe bridge at Fort Bragg, crossovers between mainline freight train tracks, enhanced grade separation for Los Angeles-region commuter rail, rehab and addition of inter-city train tracks at L.A’s downtown station, second-phase seismic upgrade work on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Read More ›