The Contra Costa Transportation Authority is busy meeting with numerous stakeholder groups, including Bike East Bay, to formulate a transportation spending plan that will appeal to voters this November and satisfy a broad coalition of interest groups, elected officials and city representatives. At stake is $2.3 billion in new transportation dollars, a significant amount of which can fund bicycling improvements.
Bike East Bay continues a push for 15% funding for complete street projects to make busy arterial streets work more efficiently, and 5% funding for a dedicated program to fund bicycling and pedestrian improvements. But cities want no string attached to their diminishing street funds. Greenbelt Alliance is pushing for infill developement incentives, which we support, to create more walkable neighborhoods around BART Stations.
In addition to complete streets, various stakeholders are discussing the growth management program in Contra Costa County, how much funding to give to BART, and what if any projects to include that could encourage more sprawl. There is not much to time to wrap up these discussions and get a transportation expenditure plan ready for a November 2016 ballot.
The Expenditure Plan Development Committee meets again on February 25 and March 3, 2016, with full Contra Costa Transportation Authority Board Meetings happening twice every month. A key board meeting of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority will be Wednesday, March 9, 6-9pm. Bike East Bay is regularly working with the Contra Costa Transportation Authority staff and board, as well as our like-minded partners at Greenbelt Alliance, Transform, Sierra Club, Save Mount Diablo, and the Central Labor Council.
The CCTA hopes to have a Plan finalized by Spring 2016 in order to place it on the ballot for November 2016. We hope the Plan has needed money for bike ped projects, the types of projects voters want to see.
What you can do
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Contact your County Supervisor and let them know you support “15% for Complete Streets in a new Measure J”
- District 1 John Gioia
- District 2 Candice Anderson
- District 3 Mary Piepho
- District 4 Karen Mitchoff
- District 5 Federal Glover
- Look for an announcement soon about a key upcoming board meeting of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, possibly in early March, 2016. We’ll need many supporters in attendance to make our case for this much needed funding.
