Caltrain funding often in peril, but officials and VTA work to keep it running
Published in the March 5 – March 18, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Perry Woodward
Perry Woodward
Transportation funding is a challenge across the nation. The federal Highway Trust Fund is expected to run out of money within the next year, and the local budget for transit is faring only slightly better.
Against this backdrop of minimal dollars for infrastructure and a pressing need, South County is holding on, but our grip is tenuous. With a smaller population than other regions in Santa Clara County, we frequently don’t have the ridership numbers to sustain transit, but we do have the numbers to clog freeways.
As a member of the boards of directors for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and Caltrain, I’m working to make sure our transportation organizations preserve transit service to South County, and to help alleviate the congestion that comes not just from our residents on the roads, but from commuters from Monterey and San Benito counties as well.
As many know, traveling State Route 152, the western portion of which is known as Pacheco Pass Road, can be dangerous and slow. Some successes in recent years on our stretch of this major east/west arterial were the construction of the Joseph A. Zanger memorial flyover at the interchange of highways 152 and 156, as well as the construction of truck passing lanes at various intervals along the highway. These improvements have helped traffic continue to flow while providing much improved safety for motorists on this roadway.
Unfortunately, lack of funding and lack of agreement on funding alternatives have stalled the latest plan to improve State Route 152 — a bypass highway that VTA was working with the state and local jurisdictions to bring to fruition. A safer, faster highway that aids motorists and the movement of goods would be an economic boon to our region, and I hope that work can once again get under way.
In the same vein of safety, the interchange between State Route 25 and U.S. 101 is in need of improvement, as is the conversion of U.S. 101 south of Gilroy into a freeway, to handle the volume of commuters coming to our county from the south. Funding for this project has not yet been identified, but VTA is aware of the need and I’m working with staff to pursue funding as opportunities become available.
Caltrain service to Gilroy frequently comes under fire. The threat of cutting this service surfaces every year with the budgeting process for Caltrain, but the commitment of our elected officials and VTA have kept this service running.
Caltrain provides a much-needed commute option for those headed north in the morning and back to South County after work. Along with VTA’s Line 68 bus and the Express 168, public transit is helping to unclog our freeways by taking cars off the road.
I continue to advocate for this important service as well as others that make our life in this beautiful part of Santa Clara County what it is. If you have suggestions or questions about transportation in our region, drop me a line at [email protected]
Perry Woodward is the vice-chair of VTA and the mayor pro tempore in Gilroy. He is a partner at Terra Law in San Jose.
