A DECISION IS BEING MADE TOMORROW AFFECTING THE NEXT 100 YEARS!!!!
URGENT: PLEASE TAKE ACTION AND CONTACT THE LEGISLATORS BELOW
RIGHT NOW! THERE IS A SAMPLE LETTER AT THE BOTTOM.
____ ___ _______ ___ _ _ ____
__/\____/\__ / ___| / \ \ / / ____| / _ \| | | | _ \ __/\____/\__
\ /\ / \___ \ / _ \ \ / /| _| | | | | | | | |_) | \ /\ /
/_ _\/_ _\ ___) / ___ \ V / | |___ | |_| | |_| | _ < /_ _\/_ _\
\/ \/ |____/_/ \_\_/ |_____| \___/ \___/|_| \_\ \/ \/
____ ____ ___ ____ ____ _____
__/\____/\__ | __ )| _ \|_ _| _ \ / ___| ____| __/\____/\__
\ /\ / | _ \| |_) || || | | | | _| _| \ /\ /
/_ _\/_ _\ | |_) | _ < | || |_| | |_| | |___ /_ _\/_ _\
\/ \/ |____/|_| \_\___|____/ \____|_____| \/ \/
URGENT: PLEASE REPOST TO ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT BICYCLING,
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, TRAILS, OR THE ENVIRONMENT
San Francisco Bay Area Cyclists, Ecologists, Light Rail and Mass Transit
Advocates, Conservationists, and advocates of the Bay Trail are calling on
*EVERYONE* to help stop a devastating blow to the Bay Area that would
greatly impact the next 100 years of life here.
The decision is being made tomorrow!
The world-famous Bay Bridge is being rebuilt. This is our major
transportation artery in the region. If there is not provision for
bicycle and pedestrian access; if motorists' tolls are used to tear down
the important Transbay Terminal, tremendously hurting buses and future
rail (all for Real Estate interests!); if the bridge is not able to
accomodate a return to light rail (the SF Trolley System was one of the
most efficient transportation systems in the world before monopoly
practices destroyed it); and if the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
continues to defy its own policies by prioritizing the looks of the bridge
over the function, the Bay Area--which is already suffering tremendously
from skyrocketing congestion and lack of bicycle access and lack of good
transit, may fall into a truly dark era of business failure and widespread
suffering.
THIS CAN *STILL* BE AVOIDED BUT A MAJOR WEAK LINK WILL OCCUR TOMORROW IF
WE DON'T STOP IT!!! DO NOT DELAY!!!! CONTACT THE REPRESENTATIVES AT THE
BOTTOM OF THIS LETTER BY FAX, EMAIL, OR PHONE. DO NOT WORRY IF YOU ARE
FROM A DIFFERENT AREA--TOURISM IS A MAJOR ECONOMIC CONCERN HERE AND WOULD
YOU WANT TO VISIT A COLLAPSED BAY AREA?
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Forward: From:
john.holtzclaw@sfsierra.sierraclub.org
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Red Alert on San Francisco Bay Bridge
The draft Senate-Assembly Conference report has just been released. This
report is what the Senate and Assembly will enact as their bridge bill.
The conference will vote upon on this draft early tomorrow morning (Friday
8 August) so your calls and email are needed tonight.
The provisions which concern us the most:
1. It may bypass (unclear) the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) so that no environmental impact report is required -- that
means that the public won't have a chance to review and comment on the
design of the bridge or whether it contains bike/pedestrian lanes or
light rail. And it's a horrible precedent.
WE MUST DEMAND THAT THERE BE NO CEQA EXEMPTION.
2. Bicycle/pedestrian lanes and light rail.
The report states: "...local and state permitting authorities shall
not impose any requirement that a bicycle, pedestrian, or mass transit
facility be constructed on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a
condition for issuing any permit, granting any easement, or granting
any other form of approval needed, for the construction of a new
bridge." (SEC. 6, 30604.5)
It allocates funds for construction of a "designer" cable bridge and
for five 12-foot wide lanes in each direction, with 10-foot shoulders
on either side. (SEC. 3 (8) (B & C) The wide lanes lure drivers into
dangerously excessive speeds.
It does not allocate funds for construction of a bicycle/pedestrian
lane or light rail lane. It does allow the Bay Area Toll Authority to
request funding for the bicycle/pedestrian lanes out of toll revenues,
but not for a light rail lane. (CHAPTER 4.5, 31015 (a) (3))
WE MUST DEMAND THAT A BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN LANE AND A LIGHT RAIL LANE BE
GIVEN HIGHER PRIORITY FOR STATE FUNDS THAN THE CABLE DESIGN.
3. It allows the Bay Area Toll Authority to request funding out of
tolls "for the relocation to the transbay bus terminal" further from
downtown. (CHAPTER 4.5, 31015 (a) (2))
WE MUST DEMAND THAT THE TRANSBAY TERMINAL NOT BE RELOCATED FROM ITS
PRESENT LOCATION
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Address your comments to the conference committee members listed below:
Senator Quentin L. Kopp (South San Francisco)
State Capitol, Room 2057
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-0503
Fax: (916) 323-2186
E-MAIL: Senator.kopp@sen.ca.gov
Dede Alpert (San Diego)
State Capitol, Room 2187
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-3952
fax: (916)-327-2188
EMAIL: Senator.Alpert@sen.ca.gov
District phone: (619) 645-3090
Has a good record on the environment.
Assemblyman Kevin Murray (Culver City) State Capitol, Room 4126
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-8800
Fax: (916) 445-8899
Email: Kevin.Murray@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Carole Migden (San Francisco)
State Capitol, room 2114
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-8077
Fax: (916) 323-8984
Email: Carole.Migden@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblyman Scott Baugh-R (Orange County)
Vice Chair / Transportation Committee State Capitol, room 4177
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-6233
fax: (916) 445-2751
EMAIL: repweb@assembly.ca.gov
Senator Richard Rainey.
(Walnut Creek) : no email listed
State Capitol, room 4090
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-6083
Fax: (916) 445-2527
Rainey Is respected for being supportive of bicyclists and
for being upset over Caltrans' costs over runs.
Here's a sample response letter:
===================================================================
Thursday, August 07, 1997
Senate-Assembly Conference
Re: draft Bay Bridge Bill
Sacramento, CA
Dear Conference Members:
I urge you to make the following changes in the draft bill for
the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge.
1. Under NO conditions should there be a California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) exemption. The process of the Environmental Impact
Reports and public commentary exist for the public's interest, and
should not be precluded in any bill. This would be an unacceptable
precedent.
2. A public project of this magnitude is the most reasonable
opportunity to fulfill the need for and the mandate of maximum
feasible public access as chartered in the MacAteer-Petris Act of
1956. Any provision excluding or hampering the possibility of a
bicycle/pedestrian/wheelchair facility or a mass transit facility
(light and high-speed rail) should not be in the bill. The bridge
should provide for maximum access before any additional funds are
allocated for aesthetics.
3. Under no circumstances should any toll funds be used to move the
current Transbay Terminal in San Francisco. The public is better
served by the current facility, which is larger, more convenient,
maintains the possibility of a Caltrain Connection, and is millions of
dollars cheaper to retrofit than to rebuild.