MEASURE

EE

Shall the voters advise the Emeryville City Council to request that the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and CalTrans include passenger rail service as part of the redesign of the Bay Bridge in order to reduce regional Traffic congestion, promote regional mass transit use, and protect the environment?

THE SITUATION

The Eastern half of the Bay Bridge needs to be replaced by a bridge strong enough to withstand anticipated earthquakes. A new bridge is being designed between Yerba Buena Island/Treasure Island and the East Bay, which is to have the same capacity as the present bridge, plus bike lanes. The city councils of Emeryville, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco have placed similar advisory measures on the ballots of each city for this general election.

This advisory proposition, Measure EE, would inform the Emeryville City Council that the voters support the Council's requesting the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (the regional transportation planning commission) and CalTrans (the state transportation planning agency) to include passenger rail service as part of the redesign of the Bay Bridge in order to reduce regional traffic congestion, promote regional mass transit use, and protect the environment.

A YES vote means the voters advise the Emeryville City Council that they support a City policy to include passenger rail service as part of the redesign of the Bay Bridge.

A NO vote means the voters advise the Emeryville City Council that they do not support a City policy to include passenger rail service as part of the redesign of the Bay Bridge.

· Traffic congestion is the Bay Area's major problem; rebuilding the eastern half of the Bay Bridge is an oppor -tunity to address that problem and meet future needs.

· Rail and other forms of mass transit can carry ten times as many people in a lane as a car lane can.

· Transit planning needs to be done in conjunction with bridge design to provide connections to existing and future rail (like the ramps that exist at the San Francisco end of the bridge into the Transbay Terminal).

· A study of alternatives such as con-necting the Capitol Corridor train to San Francisco, reinstating streetcar connections or instituting a high volume bus/van lane could determine which to plan for in the life of the bridge, and should already have been done.

· As there are no plans for rebuilding the western half of the bridge or the tunnel through Treasure Island, mass transit service on the bridge would require using at least one existing lane.

· BART provides mass transit service across the Bay. Advances in technology will increase its capacity.

· Some supporters want connection to Capitol Corridor heavy rail to Sacramento, some want to resurrect streetcars on the bridge, and others, a bus lane. As supporters do not agree on a preferred transit system, bridge design and construction would be impeded.

· It is important to rebuild the Bay Bridge as soon as possible because of earthquake hazard. Vulnerability of the bridge is a constant threat to the region.

Ken Bukowski, Mayor; Nora Davis, Councilmember; Jane Hoop, Planning Commissioner; Kris Owens, Planning Commissioner.

MAJOR OPPONENTS

There is no formal opposition recorded in the Alameda Counter Voter Pamphlet.