Sep 7, 2008 12:09 pm US/Pacific
Alameda Co. Kicks Off I-580 Carpool Lanes Project
LIVERMORE, CA (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―
If you're unfamiliar with the 11 mile stretch of freeway between Pleasanton and Livermore in Alameda County, commuters traveling must compete for space with big rigs carrying cargo from the Port of Oakland to points east.
"This is a vital corridor for goods movement, not only for the state of California, but for the entire United States of America," said Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty.
Haggerty says people are enduring time wasting traffic congestion moving over the Altamont pass from home in the Tri-Valley, Tracy, and Central Valley, to "good paying jobs" in the west, particularly Alameda County, Santa Clara County and Contra Costa County.
At a groundbreaking ceremony kicking off the I-580 carpool lanes project on Friday, congressman Jerry McNerney said that this project symbolizes a national concern with America's transportation problem.
"Anyone that's out here dealing with transportation, dealing with congestion day in and day out, knows how important it is for us to rebuild our nation's infrastructure and this is the perfect way to get started."
New express bus/carpool lanes are scheduled to be completed in the next two years. The $153 million project is paid by voter approved Proposition 1B congestion relief funds.
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