 OAKLAND, Calif. (KCBS) - Governor Schwarzenegger was in Oakland Friday to announce the distribution of $20 billion in voter-approved transportation funds.
A significant chunk of that funding will go towards BART improvements.
Statewide, Proposition 1B provides more than $11 billion for congestion relief--essentially increasing capacity and roads and highways. Roughly $3 billion will go towards ports, and $4 billion is for local transit, including BART.
The governor made his announcement about the allocation of funds along the West Oakland entrance to the transbay tube. That's one of BART's top projects, to establish a critical underwater link, and the West Oakland station that anchors it. The Governor announced that $24 billion is to go to the seismic retrofit effort.
”The timing is perfect. This is why the legislative leaders and I got together and tried to figure out how to get this money out as quickly as possible,” said Schwarzenegger.
"This BART station is a primary concern because 4 of the 5 lines go through here," explained BART chief spokesman Linton Johnson. "If you look at the columns that this station sits on, we've got to retrofit those, we've got to broaden the base so that way they can withstand an earthquake and that's basically why this station and the transbay tube are involved in the first segment."
More than 100 California projects will be getting some share of the bond money.
(MGO) |
KCBS' Bob Melrose reports
