Question:  When Caltrans knows of a big traffic congestion problem, for example at 880 and Stevens Creek (the exit to Valley Fair and Santana Row), what organizations are involved to fix that kind of a big congestion problem? How long would it take, once approvals were passed, would it take to construct the solution?

Answer:  Great question for Mr. Roadshow of the SJ Mercury News.  Gary Richards just published some great news for you (posted 12/17/09):

“Bay Area transportation planners have approved $32 million to start rebuilding one of the South Bay's biggest traffic headaches — the outdated 45-year-old interchange where interstates 880 and 280 and Highway 17 weave together in a tangled mess next to Valley Fair Shopping Center and Santana Row.”

See http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_14021216?nclick_check=1 for the full article.  Or see http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow and search for Valley Fair if that first link doesn’t work. 

A longer winded and more general discussion follows.  Projects being considered on Caltrans facilities (freeways, interchanges, State highways) go through a very formal procedure called the Project Development process.  If you want to do some light reading on the topic, check http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/oppd/pdpm/pdpmn.htm for an on-line copy of the Project Development Procedures Manual. 

Chapter 4 talks about funding, which is a very important topic for a project like the 880/Stevens Creek interchange (see  http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/oppd/pdpm/chap_pdf/chapt04.pdf).  In brief, Caltrans’ funding goes to the following programs, listed in order of priority:

1. Operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the State Highway System.

2. Safety improvement without adding new lanes.

3. Flexible congestion relief, traffic system management, interregional roads, and public guideways

4. Environmental enhancement and mitigation

5. Compatibility improvements, including landscaping and noise barriers.

Congestion relief is number 3 on the list.  The portion of the State budget that goes to our highway system has been underfunded for many years, and item numbers 1 and 2 generally take all the available funding.

Other funding sources can include:

v     Private sources, sometimes paid by land owners/developers to provide better access to their site, or mandated by Environmental Impact mitigation requirements

v     Local agency funding, including direct expenditure from the City with jurisdiction, in this case San Jose, or programs like Santa Clara County’s Measure A/B sales tax program, or the SF Bay Area Regional Improvement Program. 

v     Special State funding, such as the Bond monies that are funding this particular project. 

To answer your first question, the organizations involved are typically the ones who administer the funding.  If it’s private money, it would be Caltrans reviewing the permit application that would be submitted by the land owner or developer.  If it’s public money, it would be an agency like a City, or VTA. 

Your second question is not so simple, because obtaining approvals is a very time consuming process.  For example, it can take years to pass a sales tax program.  Once the funding commitment is made, the next steps include Preliminary Studies, which can take about a year:  Environmental Studies, which can take anywhere from a year to 5 or more years, depending on the complexity of the project; and Preliminary and Final Design, which can take a year or two depending on the magnitude of the project.  After all these approvals are obtained, construction is relatively quick.  A big new overpass might take 1-2 years to build.  The road work takes less time. 

You might next ask – why does it take so LONG?  The simple answer it because it’s VERY important that it be done well.  Big infrastructure projects impact a lot of people, and they all want their voices heard during the evaluation process.  There are also very important equity questions to answer.  For your specific example, what is the best use of public money when the primary beneficiary is the privately owned shopping centers?  Just my opinion, but it’s pretty clear that these owners do plenty of business even with all the congestion.  It’s not too hard to understand why they are not beating a path to Caltrans with money to pay for all the needed improvements.  Thus it becomes a project to be funded with public money, and the long path to implementation.