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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

May 30, 2002

Transportation improvement ideas abound

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Road maintenance, safety improvements, interchange improvements, transit for the elderly and disabled and express bus service to BART are also among its priorities.

And the chamber wants to make certain Travis Air Force Base has its transportation needs met.

The chamber Board of Directors on Wednesday endorsed the priorities. Money could come from a half-cent transportation sales tax measure targeted for the November ballot.

Now the chamber will try to get its priorities on a projects list for the sales tax. Other groups, such as the Greenbelt Alliance, are trying to do the same thing.

A Solano Transportation Authority community advisory group with about 60 representatives, including two from the chamber, meets on June 20th. It will help assemble the list.

The chamber had two criteria when deciding on its recommendations: projects must be good for business and supported by a recent transportation tax survey.

Businesses have to move goods and services, Chamber President Bud Ross said.

"We've long recognized transportation is a vital issue," Ross said.

After putting together its priority list, chamber members saw transportation requests by Col. David Lefforge, commander of Travis Air Force Base.

The chamber this week sent a letter to the Solano Transportation Authority supporting the three Travis-related projects for the transportation sales tax list:

- Build a railroad spur for the base.

- Repair the Suisun City South Gate, the base's primary truck route.

- Repair roads leading to the base.

Since the tax is to raise $1 billion and the 20-year transportation wish list for the county has a $3 billion shortfall, some projects will be left out.

The chamber will decide when it sees the projects list whether it supports the sales tax measure, Ross said. Other groups will make the same decision. Transportation leaders and the community advisory group are to complete the sales tax projects list in a few weeks. They must decide how much money each project will get.

"That's a Herculean effort," Ross said. "It's one that's got to be done."

Barry Eberling can be contacted at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.

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