New BART Lines Expected

By Natalia Pavlina

Starting this spring, residents of the San Jose area will begin to noticing an increase in construction activity in the area.

After 10 years and over 100 public meetings to gain the support of both California taxpayers and the federal government, Santa Clara County is finally ready to begin the long anticipated expansion of the BART to San Jose.

The project plans to extend the transit system an extra 10 miles, from Warm Springs in South Fremont to Berryessa Road in San Jose. This undertaking is predicted to finish by 2018 and is estimated to cost around $2.3 billion. This is by far the most expensive public works project Silicon Valley has ever seen.

Already, residents of the effected areas are beginning to notice the changes.

According to Gary Richards of the San Jose Mercury News, trees are being removed to add auxiliary lanes. Interstate 680 will be widened about 12 feet in both directions between Sycamore Valley and Crow Canyon in the shoulder area.

The removal of trees is not all that awaits San Jose. Richards explained further that the project will also involve the demolition of buildings, relocation of utility lines and occasional street closures.

The expansion finally became possible about a month ago when $900 million in federal funding came in following Santa Clara County's recent approval to raise sales taxes.

Senator Dianne Feinstein was a key agent to gaining financial support from the federal government. She explained that "the people of Santa Clara were willing to raise their sales tax, and that really produced a very high percent of local funds. And with those local funds it wasn't too difficult then to go to the federal government."

The BART began its first construction on June 19, 1964, and ran through Oakland and Fremont. Since then, the transit system has grown vastly and now extends to San Francisco and many other areas in the Bay. The new BART route will reportedly host an estimated 23,000 riders on a daily basis.

BART proponents and officials still hope to extend the transit system another six miles, through downtown San Jose and reaching the Caltrain depot right here in Santa Clara.

Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff said, however, that "funding will be a challenge," and worries about the BART's 40-year-old cars - incidentally the oldest cars in the nation.

Contact Natalia Pavlina at npavlina@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.