$8M available for bike and walking projects in county

Now in its fifth cycle, the TA’s bicycle and pedestrian program was initially funded by 4% of the revenue from Measure A, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1988 to fund countywide transportation improvements. Now the program also gets 5% of the roughly $80 million Measure W is expected to generate annually.

“We have quite a bit more funding now with the addition of Measure W funds and we’ve only been collecting them for about a year,” said Peter Skinner, manager of grants and fund programming for the TA, during a meeting Aug. 6. 

The program’s cycle for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 includes about $7.7 million for capital projects, about two-thirds of which will be reserved for large projects with budgets over $1 million. Measure W has also provided $202,500 for planning, promotional projects and programs.

“We’re really excited to see what comes in in terms of applications for those,” Skinner said.

Evaluation of submitted projects will analyze factors including greenhouse gas emissions, vehicle miles traveled, bicycle and pedestrian collisions and proximity to disadvantaged communities.

The project’s proximity to various transportation modes as well as schools, community centers, banks and shopping centers will be considered as will safety, Skinner said.

TA Board Member Emily Beach, also Burlingame’s mayor, noted the scoring system heavily favors projects with local matching funds.

“In this age of COVID-19, that could be a real challenge for many cities, but particularly for communities of concern that might not have that general fund matching,” she said.

The panel charged with scoring proposed projects includes TA staff, a member of C/CAG’s bike and pedestrian advisory committee and transportation planners and engineers from C/CAG, SamTrans or other agencies familiar with bike and pedestrian projects, Skinner said.

Applications are due Sept. 21 of this year and a draft list of projects will be announced in November before the final recommendations are released in December.

In other business, the TA during the meeting received an update on the Express Lanes project on Highway 101.

Since June, three sound walls have been constructed and are being rebuilt, more than 105,000 feet of temporary barriers have been installed and 18 construction yards have been established. But the lion’s share of work has been the demolition of existing pavement and shoulder sections to construct a stable roadway, said project manager Leo Scott, adding pavement removal and grading will continue through the end of the year.

Through October, sound wall reconstruction, electrical work and sewer relocation near Dore Avenue will continue.

In spring of 2022, the median will be shifted throughout the corridor, a higher median barrier will be built and then tolling infrastructure including signs will be installed.  

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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