Reso 2005-139 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Proposed Expenditure Plan Amendment (Amendment No, 1) to Replace the Route 238 Bypass Project with the Hayward Route 238/Mission-Foothill-Jackson Corridor Improvement Project INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND In 1986, Alameda County voters authorized ahalf--cent transportation sales tax to finance improvements to the County's overburdened transportation infrastructure. This tax expired in 2002. A detailed Expenditure Plan guides the use of those funds. The 1986 Expenditure Plan authorized the expenditure of local transportation funds to extend BART to Dublin/Pleasanton, open 22 miles of carpool lanes on I-880, and maintain and expand bus service throughout the county. In addition, the 1986 Plan funds special transportation services for seniors and people with disabilities. The Plan also provided congestion relief throughout Alameda County by adding lanes to I-880 overpasses, improving the I-580/I-680 interchange in Dublin and Pleasanton which included widening sections of I-580, reconstructing the Route 13/Highway 24 interchange, extending Route 84 in Livermore to remove highway traffic from the downtown area, improving access to the Oakland International Airport, and upgrading surface streets and arterial roadways. Most of the 10 major projects authorized by the 1986 Expenditure Plan have been completed or are under construction, and those that are still in the design and environmental review stage are scheduled to begin construction in the next few years. Specifically, the 1986 Expenditure Plan included Measure B funds for the construction of a 5.3- mile segment of Route 238 on a new expressway alignment to bypass downtown Hayward, between Industrial Parkway and I-580 in Hayward. This project was commonly referred to as the Route 238 Hayward Bypass Project. In the Expenditure Plan, Caltrans was named as the project sponsor. The Bypass Project has been embroiled in controversies since Caltrans commenced the project design in the mid-1960's. By the early 1970's, Caltrans had acquired two-thirds of the needed right of way for the project, which triggered a lawsuit by the Sierra Club and the Legal Aid Society of Alameda County representing La Raza Unida of Southern Alameda County. The suit resulted in an injunction, which is still in effect. However, the Court established a mechanism for the removal of the injunction through a Consent Decree that was approved in 1990. Through the three decades between the 1970's and 1990's, the development of the Bypass Project was also impeded by a series of changes in the environmental statutes and regulations, as well as regional and local transportation plan updates. In 1997, a second lawsuit was filed against the project by the Hayward Area Planning Association (NAPA) and the Citizens for Alternative Transportation Solutions (CATS). This suit resulted, in 2002, in the final ruling that Measure B funds could not be used in the delivery of the Hayward Bypass Project, effectively depleting the only major funding source for the project. Between 2002 and to date, ACTA and the City of Hayward have been working on the development of an alternative project to the Hayward Bypass Project that could meet the purpose of the original project, and one that could be eligible for Measure B funding. In April of 2005, Rev: July ] 3. 2005