Art Dao, Executive Director of the ACTC, Speaks at the Wendel Rosen Breakfast Forum

On March 2, 2015, Art Dao, Executive Director of the Alameda County Transportation Commission, spoke to a packed house at the Wendel Rosen Construction Practice Group’s Breakfast Forum on the Commission’s plans for nearly $8 billion in transportation improvement funding approved by voters this past year under Measure BB.

The Commission, which was formed in 2010 following the merger of the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency and the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority, serves as congestion management agency for the County of Alameda and  is responsible for planning, funding and delivering transportation programs and projects.

In 2014, nearly 70% of Alameda County voters approved Measure BB, which provides for nearly $8 billion in transportation improvement funding over 30 years through an extension of a  ½ cent sales tax under former Measure B and an additional ½ sales tax that expires in 2045. Measure BB benefits include:

• BART, bus and commuter rail expansion and improvements
• Keeping fares affordable for seniors, youth and people with disabilities
• Traffic relief funding for cities to repave streets, fill potholes and upgrade local transportation infrastructure
• Improvement of air quality and to provide clean transportation
• Local contracting to support residents and businesses in the county

During his presentation, Mr. Dao explained that the Measure BB funding would be disbursed through a Comprehensive Investment Plan (“CIP”) which integrates existing planning and programming practices and all funding sources into streamlined five-year strategic plans.

Under the first five-year CIP, an estimated $1.5 billion in transportation improvement funding will be spent, of which $737 million will be allocated to direct local distributions, $487 million for capital projects, and $275 million for other programming. For fiscal year 2015-2016, $137 million will be allocated to direct local distributions, $40.6 million for capital projects, and $6.5 million for transit programs.

Current Measure BB funding commitments include:

• I-80 Gilman Street interchange improvements
• I-80 Ashby interchange improvements
• I-880 Broadway/Jackson multimodal transportation and circulation improvements
• Whipple Road/Industrial Parkway Southwest interchange improvements
• I-880 Industrial Parkway interchange improvements
• I-880 Northbound high occupancy vehicle (HOV)/high occupancy toll (“HOT”) lane extension
• I-680 HOV/HOT lane
• SR-84/I-680 interchange and SR-84 widening
• SR-84 expressway widening
• I-580/I-680 interchange improvements
• BART extension to Livermore