Supervisor Don Gage votes yes, with reservations
Morgan Hill – Plans to bring BART to San Jose keep chugging along, despite criticism that the 16.1-mile extension will suck up scarce county transit funds.
“It’s a dollars-and-cents issue,” said Doug McNea, Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association. “There just aren’t enough dollars to bring BART to San Jose … Put BART on hold.”
In the hopes of luring federal money, VTA’s board of directors okayed more than $135 million to design and engineer the controversial project Thursday morning. In the past, the Federal Transit Administration hasn’t been impressed with the plan, dubbing it ‘Not Recommended.’ Critics lament the project’s $4.7 billion expense, warning that BART’s typical cost overruns will gobble up funding for bus routes and light rail countywide. At Thursday’s meeting, one opponent held up a neon pink sign reading, in part, ‘STOP BART.’
But a San-Jose-bound BART train has powerful appeal for some Silicon Valley boosters. “It’s an opportunity for greatness in Silicon Valley,” said Steve Glickman of the Policy Advisory Committee. “And greatness has its cost.”
The board threw its support behind the $135 million expense. Only two members, county supervisor Liz Kniss and project gadfly Greg Perry, shunned the proposal. County supervisor Don Gage, regarded by project opponents as a potential swing vote, voted yes, despite some misgivings.
“I can’t say that I’m an advocate of BART,” Gage said, “but I voted the way I did because the engineering will get us the information to make a decision as to whether to move forward … If we don’t have that, we’re making the decision in the blind.”
General manager Michael Burns said the expense was well worth it: the project is more likely to snag federal funding with firmer numbers and plans. Deferring the work would cost more than $100 million, he claimed, and the work won’t stale if the project has to be shelved, awaiting funding. But critics charge that the expenditure means VTA will have to go, hat in hand, to county taxpayers for support.
“We know we don’t have the money,” said Perry, who was dubious of Burns’ claim that the engineering and design would balloon in cost, if delayed. “We don’t know how we’re going to get the money. But we’re going to bet half a million dollars that the money’s going to come.”
Measure A, the half-cent sales tax passed in 2000, is supposed to shoulder more than half the project’s expense. Burns said BART expenditures wouldn’t jeopardize other Measure A transit projects, but Gage said if massive project’s price creeps higher, and federal funders don’t bite, South County projects could be in peril. State and federal funding are needed to provide over $1 billion for the extension’s success.
“If in two years, [federal funding] doesn’t happen, the board will be faced with a difficult decision,” Gage said. “It’s going to end up costing us money … and if you don’t have enough money to do BART, and you take money and use it on BART, you won’t have the money for smaller cities’ projects.”
Double-tracking moves forward
Morgan Hill – South County commuting could get a lot easier, with Caltrain planning to double Gilroy-bound tracks. VTA directors gave the nod to $10 million more for the project Thursday, paying for design services and the necessary relocation of Verizon/MCI, Qwest and Sprint facilities.
Currently, a single set of tracks services Gilroy’s Caltrain station. That means that only one train can run at a time – outbound by morning, inbound by night.
“Right now, we’ve got three trains that go out from around 3am to 7am,” said county supervisor Don Gage, a member of VTA’s board of directors. “How many people want to get on the bus at 7am to get to a 9am job? We need that reverse commute, and I’ve ensured that.”
The funding should accelerate the project, previously due for completion in more than 20 years, said Gage.
Emily Alpert covers public safety issues for The Dispatch. She can be reached at 847-7158, or at ea*****@************ch.com.
