GOOD IDEA OR USELESS BOONDOOGLE ?

by Bob Walsh

Sometimes in the formerly great state of California it is hard to tell which. Sometimes a project morphs from a good idea at reasonable cost to a horrible idea at incredible cost.

Those who have lived or driven in the greater Bay Area are familiar with the Altamont Pass. It is 1,000 feet tall and has a pretty good grade to it, specially outbound from the bay area. During the summer overheated cars litter the pass.

Right now planners are seriously considering boring a runnel thru the pass, about 3.5 miles and $9 billion worth, in order to greatly increase the number of commuter trains thru the Altamont corridor. Right now there are four commuter trains per day each way. They are looking at maybe 40 trains, with weekend service and branches into Stanislaus, Merced and Sacramento Counties in the next few years.

It would also allow a BART link into Stockton. Existing BART trains are physically unable to climb the pass. The tunnel would fix this problem, and would (presumably) also make the long-paid-for but currently unbuilt Livermore station a reality. There is a real possibility that this plan could pull a large chunk of the current 80,000 per day car commuters out of their cars.

You should not, however, underestimate the ability of the state to screw it up. Witness the so-called High Speed Rail authority which turned into a disgusting clusterfuck of underperformance and overcost.

There is currently a plan under way to include Santa Clara County into the BART system. (They opted out back in the 1960s, when BART was begun.) This will effectively create a BART loop all the way around the bay, much more effective than the current horseshoe arrangement.

This is one of those things that has the possibility of being a very good thing at a reasonable cost, or a complete disgusting mess at an idiotically high cost. They are guesstimating they could have it up and running in seven years. I think the last time the G built a transport project on time and on budget was the Golden Gate Bridge, but you never know. Miracles do occur.