BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 1061
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: hancock
VERSION:
2/16/2010
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: Yes
Hearing date: March 23, 2010
SUBJECT:
Capital projects related to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
(SFOBB)
DESCRIPTION:
This bill authorizes the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) to spend
future revenues from bridge tolls to construct a
bicycle-pedestrian-maintenance pathway on the western portion of
the San Francisco Bay Bridge between Yerba Buena Island and San
Francisco.
ANALYSIS:
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is designated a
multicounty regional transportation planning agency (RTPA) under
state law and a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) under
federal law. MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating,
and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.
The counties that comprise MTC include Alameda, Contra Costa,
Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and
Sonoma. MTC is governed by a 19-member policy board.
The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) is an independent legal
entity governed by the board of MTC. BATA sets the tolls,
manages and invests the toll revenues from the seven state-owned
toll bridges: Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton,
Richmond-San Rafael, San Francisco-Oakland, and San
Mateo-Hayward. Among its responsibilities, BATA funds the
day-to-day operations, maintenance, and administration of the
bridges. In addition, BATA uses toll revenues to pay debt
SB 1061 (HANCOCK) Page 2
service on bonds issued to pay the cost of the seismic retrofit
program and the voter-approved Regional Measures (RM) 1 and 2,
both long-term transportation capital improvement programs for
transportation facilities in the travel corridors serving the
bridges.
The base toll for the bridges is four dollars and is scheduled
to increase to five dollars on July 1, 2010.
This bill:
Authorizes expenditure of toll bridge revenues for the
construction of a combined bicycle-pedestrian-maintenance
pathway on the western span of the SFOBB, linking Yerba
Buena Island to San Francisco.
Authorizes MTC to sponsor such a project at its
discretion.
Authorizes an agency seeking to construct this project
to seek funding from all potential sources, including the
State Highway Account and federal matching funds.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose . The purpose of this bill is to authorize BATA
to use toll revenues, as well as other sources of funding,
to extend the bicycle and pedestrian facility being
constructed on the new east span of the Bay Bridge across
the western span to San Francisco. Unlike the facility on
the eastern span, the bicycle and pedestrian facility on
the western span would be configured to accommodate
maintenance vehicles.
2. Background . After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the
Department of Transportation (Caltrans) engineers, in
collaboration with university and private sector structural
engineers, determined that the eastern cantilevered span of
the Bay Bridge was unsafe and had to be replaced. The
design of the replacement span incorporates a bicycle and
pedestrian path that is adjacent to but separated from the
traffic lanes by a double barrier. The path begins near
Emeryville where it intersects and existing bike path and
ends at Yerba Buena Island. The path is not designed for
use by maintenance vehicles, as shoulders are incorporated
in the design of the new span to accommodate maintenance
SB 1061 (HANCOCK) Page 3
and emergency vehicles. During the period when public
hearings were held on the new east span, several interest
groups argued for a continuation of the path on the west
span, but the BATA board decided to limit the path to the
east span.
3. Bicycle path studies . In 2001, Caltrans commissioned a
feasibility study to analyze the engineering issues
associated with constructing a bicycle and pedestrian
facility on the west span. The analysis identified two
important constraints. One constraint, imposed by the Coast
Guard, is that existing vertical clearance over the
shipping channel that the bridge crosses cannot be
decreased. This means that light weight construction
materials must be used to avoid any deflection or lowering
of the bridge. Second, because the bridge qualifies for
listing in the National Register of Historic Places, the
addition of the bike and pedestrian lane cannot change the
profile of the bridge. After considering sixteen
alternatives, the study concluded that two light weight
options were possible. The cost estimates vary between $168
million and $350 million.
Because it has been nearly ten years since the feasibility
study, BATA has commission the preparation of a project
study report (PSR) to develop new alternatives for
constructing a bicycle and pedestrian path on the west span
of the Bay Bridge. The PSR is the first project development
engineering step that can result in a proposed project
being included in the State Transportation Improvement
Program (STIP). The PSR is expected to be completed next
year.
4. Limited availability of toll revenues to fund the
project . According to BATA, toll revenues from the seven
state bridges are committed to debt service for seismic
safety bonds, the RM 1 and RM 2 bonds, and the necessary
obligations associated with bridge maintenance and
operations. The actual project amount committed to each
program category is as follows:
$9.435 billion for the Toll Bridge Seismic
Retrofit Program Budget, including $750 million for
retrofitting the Antioch and Dumbarton bridges.
$2.4 billion for the RM1 program.
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$1.5 billion for the RM 2 program.
Currently, the last bond maturity for BATA bonds is 2049.
However, since BATA has not completed financing for the
seismic retrofit projects or for RM2 projects, that date
will be pushed out as BATA issues more bonds. Bonds are
issued without reference to a specific program. The actual
amount to any given program category is a programming
exercise that MTC manages. The debt service-the bonds
principle and interest-can easily be twice the cost of the
funded projects.
The Dumbarton Bridge and the Antioch Bridge were added to
the seismic safety retrofit program last year AB 1175
(Torlakson), Chapter 515, Statutes of 2009.
This project could conceivably be funded if toll revenues
were to exceed forecasted amounts, federal funds are made
available for the project, local sources of funds become
available, or a combination of funds from different sources
arise.
1. Recommended amendments .
On page 2, line 8 after "Authority" insert
"provided the project is included in the adopted
regional transportation plan."
On page 2, line 8, after the period insert the
following sentence: "The bicycle, pedestrian pathway
may include the capacity for maintenance vehicles if
it does not lower the bridge's height above the
shipping channel or does not alter the profile of the
bridge in an unacceptable manner."
This language ensures that a bicycle and pedestrian
pathway can be constructed, if it is found that the
maintenance capacity would prohibit its construction.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
March 17, 2010)
SUPPORT: Bay Area Bicycle Coalition
Bay Localized
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Bike for a Better City
Breathe California
California Bicycle Coalition
Ecocity Builders
Friends of BRT
OPPOSED: None received.