March 25, 2016
Concord Pioneer • www.concordpioneer.com
Page 5
Highway 4/680 interchange plan hit by state cutbacks JOHN T. MILLER Correspondent
Revenue shortfalls have effectively eliminated a new interchange that would have replaced the cloverleaf where Interstate 680 meets Highway 4 in Contra Costa County. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) of California has slashed $754 million from its five-year budget for projects. The Bay Area’s share of the cuts is projected to be $80 million to $96 million. Contra Costa and San Mateo counties have been asked to take the biggest cuts of the region. This huge hit leaves the region unable to keep pace with growth and the upbeat economy. While past cuts have resulted in many projects
being delayed, this is the first time in a decade that counties have been asked to terminate some of the projects. The BART modernization project is another proposed cut affecting Contra Costa and other East Bay counties. The Highway 4/680 upgrades have been in the planning stage for more than 20 years, according to Randy Rentschler, director of Legislative and Public Affairs for MTC. When asked when plans might be resumed, he said it “could be never.” The interchange is an outdated and overwhelmed cloverleaf design that is snarled with commuters forced to weave in and out of traffic at high speeds with little room to merge. The Highway 4/680 interchange is fur-
Retirement, from page 1
throughout the year and BART service. For the coup de grace to cap off our selection, did Conde Nast mention: • Concord is home to the 17time World Champion Blue Devils drum and bugle corps • World-renowned Concord Pavilion which has presented concerts for retiree favorites like Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Welk and the Boston Pops • Sunvalley Shopping Center (at one time the largest indoor shopping center in America), a great spot for mall walkers • Local entertainment options to take the grandkids to: Waterworld California, Bay Area KidFest, Pixieland Amusement Park, Concord
Skatepark, The Entertainment Zone/Qzar, Ghost Golf and The Jungle • Educational opportunities at Cal State University Concord Campus and De La Salle High School, home of the perennial national football champions No, Conde Nast said that Concord “is one of the few U.S. cities to have a working drive-in theater!” I’m not sure if that’s one of the top features the Chamber of Commerce or Concord Senior Center mentions to the social security set who come looking for local housing. Editor’s note: The author moved to Concord with his family in 1955 and has lived or worked in the area ever since. He’s now qualified for Social Security and thus studied the Conde Nast list very carefully.
ther encumbered by a ruling from state engineers that the Grayson Creek Bridge must be torn down and rebuilt rather than widened to six lanes, at a cost of an extra $30 million. Randy Iwasaki, executive director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, is hoping that a funding solution can be found soon. “The interchange is a bottleneck that must be fixed. But without proper funding, it should not be done piecemeal,” he said. MTC uses money raised through state gasoline taxes to fund inter-city rail, state highway improvements and county transit projects. Because of a tax component that is based on gas prices, gas taxes have plummeted from a high of 18
Eye on Concord
cents a gallon a few years ago to 12 cents a gallon last year. It is estimated that the tax might go as low as 10 cents a gallon next year. Each penny drop represents a loss of about $140 million a year. The decline in gas prices is a contributing factor in the funding shortage, but not the sole reason for the cuts. The loss of gas tax revenue is “just the last nail in the coffin for what has been a very long illness,” Rentschler said. “A generational neglect in infrastructure and larger forces at play have resulted in these cuts,” he added. “The gas tax hasn’t been raised since the early ’90s.” Julie Pierce, a commissioner on the MTC board, is also concerned. “The dip in gas prices is a boon for the citi-
zens, but is killing the roads,” said Pierce, a member of the Clayton City Council and president of ABAG. “All the cities are facing real problems with local street maintenance, with no money for even pothole repairs.” Pierce says the index of the gas tax needs to be fixed to account for inflation – or we need to “find different ways to assess commuters’ impact on roads.” She cited electric cars and vehicles that get far better mileage per gallon as reasons to use a different method to assess a tax on road usage. She also pointed out the state’s irresponsibility in funding transportation. “For years now, the state has manipulated gas tax funds to pay off bills that had nothing to do with
push the Council to establish guidelines/rules for reasonable rent controls. One couple at the meeting moved to Concord in July 2013, paying $1,000 for a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment on Virginia Lane. In 2015, they had two separate rent increases – pushing the rent to $1,250. This year, they have already had two more raises. The March hike brought it to $1,400, with a pending May increase moving it to $1,675. That is a $425 increase in just the last five months. And they are now being asked to pay more than 50 percent more than two years ago.
Some residents at the meeting believe this is the norm, not the exception, in the Monument community. Another story told of a complex where two units were vacated and quickly rerented at higher amounts – even though there had not been any major improvements. Worse yet, the painting and cleaning were left for the new tenants. Because the city has no rules or guidelines, landlords are free to raise rents as they like. Renters are finding fewer options, with new listings rare and prices at all-time highs. New listings for one-bed-
transportation. There’s no reason local money should have to be used for an interstate highway.” Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown called for a special session of the Legislature, but they failed to come up with an agreement on new transportation funding. Although the Legislature is currently gridlocked in negotiations over new taxes and funding for transportation projects, Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla (D-Concord) and her colleagues have proposed a plan for long-term sustainable transportation funding. “Local governments and in particular, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, should not be hampered with a backlog of deferred maintenance,” she said.
Monument residents tackle rent control BY GEORGE FULMORE
Huge rent increases are putting Concord tenants in a foul mood if the recent Monument Democrats meeting is any indication. More than 30 people came to talk about rent control at the March 15 meeting at Diablo Bowl. Concord City Councilman Edi Birsan reported that he was studying a stack of information on rent control options. He said he will again urge the council to research what the city can do about unreasonable rent increases. He urged residents to make their voices heard at City Council meetings to
room, one-bath units in the Monument area are reaching $1,500 or more. Rents for two-bedrooms, two-bath options top out at more than $1,800. Two or three years ago, these units would have rented for $850 or $1,000. Residents of these units are not seeing their wages rise significantly, if at all. They are clearly getting squeezed, with less expendable income left after they have paid rent.
The next Monument Democrats Club meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, at Diablo Valley Bowl, 1500 Monument Blvd., Concord.
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