Bay Area Projects to Benefit From U.S. Infrastructure Funding
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Just as President Biden was speaking about his infrastructure plans in Pennsylvania Friday at the site of a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh, Bay Area congressional leaders were talking about what that infrastructure spending will mean here.
The region has a long wish list of transportation projects, many of which seem impossible because of the price tag. A $1.2 trillion spending bill could change that.
At San Francisco International Airport Friday, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were celebrating money for a Terminal One renovation, while at the Caltrain terminal at 3rd and Townsend in San Francisco was marking a milestone in its electrification efforts. "
So this big hole you see behind us is $250 million that will then resurrect the final phase of the Harvey Milk Terminal One," said Rep. Jackie Speier.
This really was Infrastructure Day, and the President's infrastructure bill will likely bring more of them in the future.
"So we are proud to say that we have $4.5 billion coming to the Bay Area as part of that," Speier said.
Beyond that first $4.5 billion, there is even more money in the form of possible federal grants.
"There is an opportunity for these dollars to deliver this next generation of big stuff," said Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesman John Goodwin. "There is completion of BART into San Jose and up to Santa Clara. There's a complete transformation of Highway 37, which is an absolutely vital east-west corridor in the North Bay."
There is also the long-discussed second bay tube for BART, something the agency has been planning for. And there's the hope that Caltrain can finally reach the Transbay terminal in downtown San Francisco. All of these projects have been waiting for money, now the opportunity may finally be here.
"And the Bay Area is going to have to compete with other metropolitan areas, not just in California but around the country," said Goodwin. "But we believe that the area is going to compete very strongly."
