Van Loben Sels on Bay crossings & other projects in CA

We got to talk to James van Loben Sels, head of Caltrans over lunch at a conference of Chinese transport professionals in San Francisco recently. We asked him whether any thought had been given to enhancing capacity on the Oakland Bay bridge as part of the $1.4b reconstruction. No, he said, it doesn't make sense to enhance capacity there because all the approach roads are just as congested as the bridge itself, and it is not where excess demand is greatest. If you want to enhance highway capacity in the Bay area, he volunteered, the best thing you could do would be to build a new crossing 15km to the south, linking I-238 just south of Oakland airport to I-380 near San Francisco airport. But, he hastened to add, he wasn't advocating that. It isn't government policy to enhance capacity with any major new projects in the area, and Caltrans has its hands full with expensive seismic protection projects to preserve its existing system. (See TR#3 May 96 p3) In his lunch address Sels said that while it was true the basic freeway system of the state was complete "there are whole new cities rising which need new highways and other means of transport." He named the San Joaquin Valley, an 'Inland Empire' around San Bernardino, and east of San Diego as the major areas needing new highways.

"Our greatest challenge is not today's congestion but to provide for the 30% increase in California's population that is likely between now and 2015 or thereabouts. These people want the same mobility and quality of life we have..."