Editorial Editorial (January 14, 2005)

Triangle Committee aims to get traffic moving

Relief for the Tri-Valley's rapidly increasing traffic congestion problems may be on the way, thanks to the efforts of Pleasanton Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and her influence, especially since her election in November, with the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency where she's been a member for more than a year. Just days after she won the mayor's post, CMA staff showed up at her door with $400,000 in seed money for a study she has been seeking on ways to reduce rush hour congestion here.

Targeted are ways to get traffic moving on Interstates 580 and 680, and State Highway 84. These are routes that the Tri-Valley Business Council's transportation committee has also recommended for expansion, including turning Highway 84 into a four-lane and six-lane expressway over Pigeon Pass to improve the link between I-680 and I-580 at the Isabel/Airway Boulevard interchange. The state is also being urged to build a second flyover for westbound 580 to southbound 680 to serve commuters between their homes east of Pleasanton and jobs in the Silicon Valley. Also under consideration are HOV - or carpool lanes - on 580, as well as carpool lanes on northbound 680 to match those recently opened in the southbound direction across the Sunol Grade.

Hosterman's persistence convinced members of the CMA, who are mostly from Oakland and other Bayside cities in Alameda County, that the tie-ups around Pleasanton are hurting everyone. Besides hour-long delays facing commuters, these weekday bottlenecks are also delaying truck traffic carrying cargo to and from the Port of Oakland and other San Francisco area industrial and commercial destinations. Except for I-80 out of San Francisco, there's no other option for trucks between the East and the Bay Area. Congressman Richard Pombo (D., 11th), who represents Pleasanton, has won Congressional support for a feasibility study on his proposal to build a new freeway between San Jose and I-5 near Patterson, but that freeway would take another 10 years to be fully funded and constructed, if it ever receives full environmental and political support.

In the meantime, the $400,000 in road improvement study funds that Hosterman has obtained is a welcome start on a problem that needs a much faster fix. Working with other city leaders, she has organized the CMA Triangle Committee, which will meet later this month and include the mayors and a City Council representative from Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin. She is also talking to Tracy and other officials in San Joaquin County to make sure they're part of the process. She believes everyone along the route should have a voice and will see major benefits just like Pleasanton as solutions are put in place.

Time is critical. Thousands of new homes are already completed and more are under construction in Dougherty Valley and Mountain House, where many new residents will be turning onto 580 to reach their jobs. IKEA is planning to start construction shortly of a large retail center on Hacienda Drive in Dublin. I-580 could be tied up morning, noon and night, seven days a week without significant improvements. Commuters who have traveled on streets through Milpitas, Hayward and Walnut Creek to avoid rush hour congestion on I-680, I-237, I-238 and Highway 24 know that Pleasanton streets offer similar cut-through opportunities to escape stalled traffic on the roadways around our city. Hopefully, the new CMA Triangle Committee will give us all a break.

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