U.S. Hwy 50, HOV Lanes, SCA 5 and Not Voting...Part 1
On November 7, 2006, then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed, and California voters approved, a massive infrastructure bond package (Propositions 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E). The authorization allowed for $42 billion in general obligation bonds to rehabilitate Californiaâs roads, bridges, classrooms, housing, levees and rail systems. Proposition 1B, the $19.9 billion transportation bond, was the catalyst behind the Sacramento Regionâs continuing infrastructure overhaul of the U.S. Highway 50 and the Interstate 80 transportation corridors.
Breaking ground in 2010, the U.S. Highway 50 expansion has added 15 miles (7.5 miles eastbound and 7.5 miles westbound) of new bus/carpool lanes between Sunrise Boulevard and Watt Ave at a cost of the $108 million. Four years later, those of us living east of the capital city in Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Folsom or the many unincorporated neighborhoods of greater Sacramento County, benefited from less traffic congestion, shorter travel times and better air quality thanks to the recent addition of the HOV lanes. Weâll have to wait and see if that holds true this week as W/X viaduct of U.S. Highway 50 undergoes a three month structural overhaul, Sacramentoâs own âCarmageddon.â
California has long been the leader in recognizing the importance of reducing pollution from motor vehicles. In 2004, Assembly Bill 2628 created the âYellow Stickersâ program. The yellow stickers, seen on the bumpers of many of Californiaâs early model hybrid vehicles, allowed single occupant access to HOV/carpool lanes. Limited to the first 85,000 applicants, the program ended in July 2011 and encouraged the development of new and other zero emission technologies. The âsuccessor âgreen clean air vehicle sticker (Senate Bill 535) made eligible 40,000 vehicle stickers to the first owners or lessees of vehicles meeting the stateâs vehicle requirements. Although set to expire in 2019, the availability of the green clean air vehicle sticker is set to run out five years before the program expires. Today, less than 1500 green clean air vehicle stickers remain and while the legislative fix did pass the State Assembly, it became a victim to the affirmative action backlash from SCA 5.
While AB 2013, introduced by Democrat Al Muratsuchi, is not yet a total loss in the CA Legislature, the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars spent on expanding freeways for HOV infrastructure appears to have may not have been such a practical investment. The Sacramento region has outgrown its transportation infrastructure and the addition of the HOV lanes was viewed as a practical, cost effective way to mitigate traffic congestion and air quality concerns. It can and has been argued that car pool (diamond lanes) restricts access from a majority of California drivers, each of whom have supported the construction of this infrastructure through gas/transportation taxes.
For a program set to expire, the region should have invested the $108 million by increasing transportation capacity for ALL motorists. Even more insulting for those enduring the construction and traffic delays that have stemmed from the HOV expansion of U.S. Highway 50 and Interstate 80, is the political gamesmanship that has accompanied a bill that had little formal opposition in two legislative committees before falling eleven votes short of passage on April 7th.
Several of our elected representatives from the Sacramento region, Dr. Richard Pan and Assemblyman Roger Dickinson supported AB 2013, while Assemblymember Ken Cooley was one of many members who chose not to cast a vote on that day. Why is this?
The bottom line on AB 2013 was that the bill existed as the legislative means of continuing a successful, incentive based program for Californians choosing to participate in the California Clean Air Vehicle Program. Purchase a qualifying vehicle and the purchaser is eligible for the clean air vehicle sticker. Nothing more and nothing less than that. However, to Assemblyman Cooley this apparently was not the case. According to the Sacramento Bee:
Six lawmakers who had supported the bill in committee reversed and withheld votes, effectively helping to doom the bill. Three are members of the California Latino Legislative Caucus and three are part of the California Legislative Black Caucus, two blocs that issued a joint statement vowing to push ahead with a recently shelved bill that would allow voters to weigh in on the state's affirmative action ban.
In total, 15 members of the black or Latino caucuses abstained from voting - more than enough to push the legislation over the finish line.
Now all this means very little now, since the bill has moved along to the State Senate, but it does illustrate one thing in the grand argument here...Assemblyman Ken Cooley didn't come out and say it directly, but there is no question that he believes in stronger affirmative action programs.
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As the big Fix50 project begins, this mid-century scene looks all the better to me! The description: "Entering Sacramento, California, via Highway 99 from the South. Sacramento, famous for its trees and flowers, noted as the Camellia Capitol of the world." (Postcard photo by Fritz Vibe)
