Barbara Lee Announces Funding for Local Transportation Projects
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, announced today that the Fiscal Year 2008 Treasury, Transportation, HUD Appropriations Bill that will be voted on next week will include almost $2 million for transportation and community redevelopment projects in her district.
“With this funding, we are making a real investment in strengthening public transportation, reducing congestion, improving public safety and supporting community redevelopment,” said Lee.
A list of projects included in the bill that was approved by the Appropriations Committee today follows:
1) $250,000 - Alameda County Public Works Agency - for School Pedestrian Safety in Ashland and Cherryland, CA. The Alameda County Public Works Agency is constructing new sidewalks in several unincorporated areas of Alameda County around the vicinity of Colonial Acres Elementary School, Edendale Middle School, and San Lorenzo High School. Funding will support the construction of curb, gutter, sidewalks, pedestrian ramps, drainage structures, sidewalk gap closure, and the installation of landscaping to create safe routes to schools and a pedestrian friendly environment that will encourage residents to walk in the community.
2) $200,000 - The Spanish Speaking Unity Council - for the Fruitvale Cultural and Performing Arts Center in Oakland, CA. Funding will assist the Unity Council in rehabilitating the Fruitvale Masonic Temple to create a new cultural and performing arts center to stage year round cultural activities and provide space for after-school youth programs. The Masonic Temple property will become the gateway to the Fruitvale Village developments and help spur community revitalization and economic development in the surrounding area.
3) $250,000 - Ed Roberts Campus, Berkeley, CA - for construction of the Ed Roberts Campus at the Ashby BART station in Berkeley, CA. The Ed Roberts Campus is the vision of eight disability organizations in California, which have joined forces to create a multi-tenant facility that will serve as an intermodal transit center as well as a transportation information and travel-training center for seniors and people with disabilities. It will provide services in a fully accessible, technologically-advanced environment located at BART’s Ashby stop. The Campus will serve approximately 2000 people per week, most of who will arrive by public transportation.
4) $500,000 - Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) - for the Telegraph Avenue/International Blvd./E.14th Street Bus Rapid Transit Corridor in Alameda County, CA. This funding request will support capital improvements – including traffic signal upgrades, bus lane improvements, utility relocation, bus stop enhancements, sidewalk widening, lighting, and street furniture – along the Bus Rapid Transit corridor of Telegraph Avenue/International Boulevard/East 14th Street.
5) $750,000 - San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority (WTA) - for Berkeley/Albany Ferry Service in CA. The Water Transit Authority is in the process of finalizing ferry service between Berkeley or Albany (terminal site to be determined) to downtown San Francisco. Federal funding would be used to help pay for construction of ferry boats and the ferry terminal. The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most highly congested areas of California, and consistently ranks in the top three most congested areas in the country. The ferry service would carry approximately 1800 people/day, serving the waterfront areas of Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville, as well as travelers along the I-80 corridor, and will help to eliminate nearly one lane’s worth of traffic on the San Francisco Bay Bridge during peak commute hours.
In addition, the district will also receive $4,600,000 for the construction of FAA Terminal Air Traffic Control Facilities in Oakland.
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