Op-Ed: Highway 85 toll lanes: The plan will tarnish Silicon Valley's innovation image (San Jose: home)

[darkeconomist]

via the Mercury News

Caltrans has approved an initial study with Negative Declaration/Environmental Assessment for the State Route 85 Toll Lanes Expansion Project. This avoids a full environmental impact study, and it is bad news for the future of rapid public transit. Building the additional toll lanes would use land that was guaranteed for transit/light rail in the Performance Agreements signed in 1990 by VTA and the cities along the Highway 85 corridor: Cupertino, Saratoga, Campbell, San Jose and Los Gatos.

One need only look at Highway 85 between Cupertino and Highway 101 in Mountain View. The center median lanes were recently converted to carpool lanes and it did nothing to solve the traffic congestion. Instead, it created a choke point, a traffic nightmare for the commuters and residents along the Highway 85 corridor. The morning rush hour in that segment extends from 7 a.m. until almost noon, according to Caltrans' own observations.

Caltrans and VTA now plan to convert the existing carpool lanes to toll lanes, which encourages more single occupancy vehicles only adding to traffic congestion. This certainly guarantees future traffic gridlock, more greenhouse gas emissions and noise levels exceeding state standards.

Caltrans plans to finish this project by 2021. Its own study shows that all lanes would be fully congested by 2023, and yet the project would not be paid for until 2040, by which time it would be obsolete. Commuters would be facing worse traffic congestion at the current and new choke points without rapid public transit options as a possible relief, whether light rail or Bus Rapid Transit.

[zitsky]

I remember how easy the commute was from Mountain View to Cupertino on 85 and how painful it was going the other way from Cupertino to Mountain View. I may be back in a few years. I'd rather see light rail going through that corridor instead of a toll lane.

[MediocreButArrogant]

The only thing worse than no public transit is having public transportation that no one uses.

What good does increasing throughput between the southern 85/101 junction, and the point where 85 crosses S Stelling? That's the stretch where the space in the median appears to be located.

Getting people from south San Jose to Castro St in Mountain View quickly on public transit would be something, but I'd still want to see projected ridership numbers. I recall plans to extend VTA light rail to Los Gatos, and a study showing a $200M cost, and an average of 200 riders per day. For the cost, you could hire each one of those people a dedicated town car and driver for 10 years.

[darkeconomist]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

The only thing worse than no public transit is having public transportation that no one uses.

What good does increasing throughput between the southern 85/101 junction, and the point where 85 crosses S Stelling? That's the stretch where the space in the median appears to be located.

Getting people from south San Jose to Castro St in Mountain View quickly on public transit would be something, but I'd still want to see projected ridership numbers. I recall plans to extend VTA light rail to Los Gatos, and a study showing a $200M cost, and an average of 200 riders per day. For the cost, you could hire each one of those people a dedicated town car and driver for 10 years.

That's not quite fair. You're comparing a line that would have no reason to exist--Winchester to Netflix--to a corridor that is hugely important to commuters. A full 85 BRT route would be important to ridership the way the 22/522 is (~20% of VTA's daily ridership, even without BRT).

Let us also establish a couple more things: that there's VTA ROW space north of Stelling, though past expansions have made using that width less straightforward; that there was space on 85 most of the way to 101 until VTA added a lane for HOV. This op-ed is simply defending against converting the rest of the available median space to HOT--something the VTA admits will become congested very quickly--and closing the door on higher capacity uses such as BRT or LRT.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by darkeconomist

That's not quite fair. You're comparing a line that would have no reason to exist--Winchester to Netflix--to a corridor that is hugely important to commuters. A full 85 BRT route would be important to ridership the way the 22/522 is (~20% of VTA's daily ridership, even without BRT).

Let us also establish a couple more things: that there's VTA ROW space north of Stelling, though past expansions have made using that width less straightforward; that there was space on 85 most of the way to 101 until VTA added a lane for HOV. This op-ed is simply defending against converting the rest of the available median space to HOT--something the VTA admits will become congested very quickly--and closing the door on higher capacity uses such as BRT or LRT.

Rail would work better on a resurrected Peninsular Railway Line (part of which is now Foothill Expressway, but most of which still exists intact) than trying to put anything rail in the Route 85 median. After all, people would still have to exit the Freeway, and much more businesses and points of interest front what is now Foothill Expressway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penins...ay_(California)

[darkeconomist]

Originally Posted by NickB1967

Rail would work better on a resurrected Peninsular Railway Line (part of which is now Foothill Expressway, but most of which still exists intact) than trying to put anything rail in the Route 85 median. After all, people would still have to exit the Freeway, and much more businesses and points of interest front what is now Foothill Expressway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penins...ay_(California)

BRT would be a good option, and was something the op-ed author was defending alongside rail. One way it could work is using the 85 corridor as a trunk for other routes; a route could exit on to and run up De Anza, another route could exit on a run north on El Camino's proposed BRT lane, and another route could run up to the MV Caltrain station, leaving last-mile connections up to MV companies. That's a lot of capacity and routing options from two VTA-only lanes.

[hsw]

No one who is productive/innovative commutes at peak hrs or uses mass transit (or tech buses), been that way forever

Slackers sit in 9-5 traffic to go to low-pay, dead-end jobs

Cos. w/slacker CEOs whose stocks stagnate eventually kill their SV jobs and move lower-pay jobs (90+% of SV jobs can fit this) to more efficient places like suburban Austin/DFW....and even there, many of the workers can telecommute 40% of wk

Alleged SV traffic problem solved w/o imposing new taxes and not creating 1000s of new >$200K/yr unionized affirm action gvt jobs to solve mythical "problems" of commies.....perhaps some money saved can be used to actually solve potholes/poor road pavement.....and just raise speed lims on 280 btwn 380&Cuper to 100MPH (or derestricted) and enforce left lane for passing only....(un)common sense 101...our German friends' autobahn pavement quality, derestricted speed lims and lane discipline are far more insightful/safer/cheaper than Luddite trains/car pools/cabs will ever be....

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by hsw

No one who is productive/innovative commutes at peak hrs or uses mass transit (or tech buses), been that way forever

Slackers sit in 9-5 traffic to go to low-pay, dead-end jobs

Because getting home in time to have a meal with the family, help the kids with their homework, take them to games or other activities, and otherwise take part in family life is *such* slacking....

Meanwhile, other people are going to their second part time job to make ends meet....

[darkeconomist]

Originally Posted by hsw

No one who is productive/innovative commutes at peak hrs or uses mass transit (or tech buses), been that way forever

Slackers sit in 9-5 traffic to go to low-pay, dead-end jobs

Cos. w/slacker CEOs whose stocks stagnate eventually kill their SV jobs and move lower-pay jobs (90+% of SV jobs can fit this) to more efficient places like suburban Austin/DFW....and even there, many of the workers can telecommute 40% of wk

Alleged SV traffic problem solved w/o imposing new taxes and not creating 1000s of new >$200K/yr unionized affirm action gvt jobs to solve mythical "problems" of commies.....perhaps some money saved can be used to actually solve potholes/poor road pavement.....and just raise speed lims on 280 btwn 380&Cuper to 100MPH (or derestricted) and enforce left lane for passing only....(un)common sense 101...our German friends' autobahn pavement quality, derestricted speed lims and lane discipline are far more insightful/safer/cheaper than Luddite trains/car pools/cabs will ever be....

The sad hypocrisy of coming here, calling people slackers, then failing to use proper grammar, punctuation, or complete sentences/thoughts. If you're going to come here, go on tangents, and insult SV workers (and workers generally) as being lazy, you should make sure your post isn't lazily written; it should be neat, tidy, and all the loose ends are tied up.