Greenbelt Alliance and partners from the East and West Bay celebrated success last month when we stopped a misguided proposal by Union City officials to raid public transit, bicycle, and pedestrian funding for a major road expansion project.
The proposal would have diverted more than $200 million of voter-approved funds from Measure BB-2014 to pay for the road project with potentially catastrophic environmental consequences, including risking opening up contaminated Superfund sites, impacting Alameda Creek, and undermining efforts to establish a transit village around the city’s BART station.
On March 22, the Alameda County Transportation Commission voted to send the proposal back to the drawing board, requiring Union City to redesign the entire project with stakeholders, reviewing the project’s environmental documentation, and looking at new opportunities to connect rail throughout the Dumbarton Corridor. The rollicking public debate was captured in this Mercury News article.
We want to thank our partners at Bike East Bay, Friends of Caltrain, Save Our Hills, Rethink EWC, TransForm, and Bike Fremont. Our collective work helped to protect smart transportation investments that will lead to thriving communities throughout the region.
Photo: Matthew Mendez via Unsplash
