The Mega Measure aka FASTERBAYAREA is a $100 billion (yes,“b”) measure that is being explored by the Bay Area Council; the Silicon Valley Leadership Group; and SPUR. The goal of the measure is to raise money to address the transportation (commuting) crisis currently facing the Bay Area. Slated to be on the November 2020 ballot, the Mega Measure, if it goes forward, will ask voters to approve a region-wide increase in sales tax to cover projects that will help with congestion and air pollution.
Bike Walk Alameda was invited to attend two outreach sessions in which the region’s bicycle and pedestrian community was asked to visualize what projects, policies, and infrastructure should be on the list to receive funds from the Mega Measure. For us, it was clear…an Oakland-Alameda Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge!
Before you roll your eyes and say “it will never happen…” there is precedence in Seattle (Sound Transit 3), Santa Clara County (Measure B), and Los Angeles (Measure M). Los Angeles’s Measure M is raising $120 billion through a sales tax to increase transit and bike networks.
Studies done by the Mineta Transportation Institute has shown voters have an interest in a measure like this if there are clear deliverables which include projects that reduced local air pollution and global warming. Another clear goal for the Mega Measure is to provide projects which support equity in the Bay Area community.
So, Bike Walk Alameda stood up in the outreach sessions and made our case for the Bike/Ped Bridge. Here are the reasons we sited for why the Mega Measure should fund the Bridge—hope you agree!
Once constructed, the Bridge will:
- Provide safe, clean-air routes to transit (BART, Amtrak), employment centers (downtown Oakland), schools (Laney College and College of Alameda), and the proposed new A’s stadium
- Be a key feature in completing the Bay Trail
- Provide the only environmentally sound active transportation facility to cross the estuary
- Dramatically reduce vehicular traffic congestion in the Posey and Webster Tubes by converting single occupancy vehicle drivers into bicycle riders
- Provide low income communities with an affordable and safe transportation option
- Create an emergency lifeline connection and provide an evacuation route to the mainland in the event of a disaster
- Support a healthy, active lifestyle for all
- Help eliminate the current healthy food desert in Oakland
- Stimulate the local economy by improving access to stores, restaurants, and parks
- Help Alameda businesses recruit qualified employees who are seeking a “last mile” solution to get to and from work
- Encourage residents to be less car-dependent
- Create a combined waterfront community
- Bring more tourists and additional recreational activities to the area
We’ll be following the Mega Measure’s progress towards an actual ballot measure and will keep you posted.