High-speed rail route reverse in limbo

Efforts to link the Bay Area and the Central Valley by high-speed rail pull onto a technical siding Thursday as the High Speed Rail Authority rescinded its support of an environmental study for that part of the bullet train. The common rescission of the 2008 approval, which recognized the Pacheco Pass as the preferred route, was in response to an August court ruling that the environmental document was partially inadequate. Parts of it will need to be redone.


But how long it will take to fix the study, and move forward with the choice of a position between San Jose and Merced, is a matter of controversy. Rail right officials say it should take a few months - at most. But an attorney representing an environmental group, which attached with Atherton and Menlo Park in filing the suit, says the study shouldn't be rushed.

"It's very clear to us that you need to appreciate that there may be environmental impacts, impacts on habitat and enlargement impacts that could be avoid if you did things differently," said Gary Patton, special counsel for the preparation and protection League, which connected in filing the suit.


Patton likely it could take as long as a year to reconsider the study properly; and any rushed study, he said, would possible lead the sides back to court. The groups concerned in the lawsuit objected to the authority's selection of Pacheco Pass over Altamont Pass as the gateway to the Bay Area, and still consider it a superior choice, Patton said outside the meeting. He said the groups want the authority to completely reconsider their choice, which could steer them toward Altamont.

Quentin Kopp, a retired San Mateo County judge who sits on the power board, said the court ruling was a narrow choice that upheld the adequacy of most of the environmental study but said more work is needed in two areas. He said he expected that work to be done within 70 days.

The ruling, by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny, establish that the environmental impact report did not adequately consider the segment between San Jose and Gilroy in light of the Union Pacific Railroad's stated resistance to sharing its right of way and did not sufficiently study the effects of vibration that would be caused by the fast trains.

Kenny determined in October that the authority did not need to halt planning work on the section while the environmental study was being redone. Consultant working for the authority are studying specific alignments for the rail route.

Faces Overlooked

Emission aim puts Obama in political bind

The U.S will suggest a near-term emission decrease target at the U.N. Type of weather change summit in Copenhagen next month, a senior management official said Monday. President Obama will announce the aim "in coming days," the official said. The statement of a target will take the current legislative stalemate over a climate bill into account, the senior official said, and thus might present a range of possible reduction rather than a single figure.

The lack of agreement in Congress puts Obama in a tricky domestic and diplomatic bind. He cannot promise to the world more than Congress may finally deliver when it takes up type of weather change legislation next year. But if he does not offer some concrete pledge, the United States will bear the brunt of the blame for the lack of an international agreement.

The official also said the leader would decide shortly whether and for how long he might attend the December climate meeting. He frequent Obama's declaration that he would consider presence if his presence could be a useful impetus to a deal. The official spoke at a White House briefing under the condition that he not be recognized.

The management has so far resisted demands that it commit to a specific goal for reducing emissions, saying it could not pre-empt Congress. China, the world's largest emitter of climate-altering gases, has also refused to spell out plans for reducing emissions, although President Hu Jintao promised in September that his country would decrease the amount of emissions per unit of economic output by a "notable margin." Many observers expect China to deliver a more exact pledge before the Copenhagen meeting.

Obama has come under criticism from leaders of dozens of countries that have already set domestic greenhouse gas lessening targets. He is also under fire from numerous environmental advocates who say the United States, the world's second-largest emitter, must take a credible commitment to Copenhagen to ensure that the talks do not fall apart.

The House approved a measure in June that calls for a 17 percent decrease over 2005 levels of house emissions. A Senate committee passed a bill last month that sets a 20 percent target, but that is likely to be weakened in future discussions.

Obama and leaders of a number of other major countries have said the Copenhagen discussion will not yield a full binding treaty to address global warming. Instead, the more than 190 nations represent there are expected to produce an interim agreement that addresses the major issues without requiring approval or international enforcement.

Top execs urge U.S. to spend in electric cars

A collection of businessmen on Monday launch a coalition to advise the federal government to make a major investment in electric transportation, pointing to electric cars as the top way to confront the nation's dependence on imported oil.


Top executive with more than a dozen companies, as well as Nissan Motor Co., FedEx Corp., electric utility PG&E Corp. and battery developers A123 Systems Inc. and Johnson Controls-Saft, announce the formation of the Electrification Coalition to lay the foundation for millions of electric cars to reach U.S. highways.

Issuing a lengthy plan to electrify the nation's fleet, the coalition urged Congress to pass a series of tax credits and loan guarantee to bring 14 million electric cars to the road by 2020 and more than 100 million by 2030. The group envisions a network of electric vehicles in 6 to 8 cities in the short term and growth across the country, making 75 percent of all vehicle miles travel powered by electricity by 2040.

"There's no pie-in-the-sky here," said Frederick Smith, FedEx's chairman, president and CEO. "It's simply a matter of group, a matter of will and a matter of execution." participant, though, recognized that the proposal would be expensive and would require a major commitment from Congress. The group's blueprint would cost more than $120 billion over eight years and encourage tax credits for the fitting of advanced batteries, loan guarantees for the retooling of plants, and tax credits for public charging station and home charging equipment.


"Ultimately the customer will make the decision about where this country goes, but from the point of view of public policy we can set the stage for it," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who joined the group for its statement.

Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said the auto manufacturing was working quickly to expand zero-emissions cars in response to concerns about oil security, tighter emissions requirements in the United States and elsewhere and a public thirst for choice vehicles not tied to petroleum.

Ghosn said the world market of 600 million vehicles is likely to expand to 2.5 billion vehicles in 2050 with the growth in vehicle purchasing in rising nations such as China and India, making electric cars a must. Nissan is release the Leaf, an all-electric car, in limited statistics next year and plans to put the vehicle into mass-production globally in 2012.

Obama Joker Contest San Francisco Bay Area - Winning Entry!!

Track closure to Slow Bay Bridge Traffic

Caltrans, working together with the CHP has decided to slow traffic down across the new S-curve on the Bay Bridge, by closing one to two lanes of the Bay Bridge's upper and lower decks during off-peak hours.

The lane closures are intended to warn and slow vehicles approaching the S-curve to the posted 35 MPH speed. CHP officers will also be on duty enforcing the speed limits on the bridge.


Caltrans officials say this won't cause any traffic jams because the lanes will only be closed during off-peak hours.

The lane closure on the westbound deck will start past the toll plaza and will extend through the Yerba Buena Island tunnel. The eastbound lane closure will start at the center anchorage of the West Span and will end just past the Yerba Buena Island detour.


The off-peak hours are as follow:
Weekdays
Westbound: 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. - 5 a.m.
Eastbound: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 11 p.m. - 6 a.m.

Weekends
Westbound: 11 p.m. (Fri) - 7 a.m. (Sat) and 11 p.m. (Sat) - 9 a.m. (Sun)
Eastbound: 11 p.m. (Fri) - 8 a.m. (Sat) and 11 p.m. (Sat) - 9 a.m. (Sun)

Other safety actions include install additional 35 MPH signs, reflective striping on the barrier rails and radar signs that tell motorists how fast they are driving.

The S-curve is a temporary detour on the Bay Bridge put in place during Labor Day weekend 2009 to reroute traffic around building of the new East Span near Yerba Buena Island.

The spot has been plagued by more than 40 accidents since then, including a fatal crash this week in which the truck driver plummeted over the side of the span. CHP investigators say speed appears to be a factor in the crash.

The speed limit on the Bay Bridge is 50 MPH, but that is reduced to 40 MPH on the S-curve; drivers of large trucks are urged to drive 35 MPH or less on the S-curve.

At this time, Caltrans has not determined for how long the lane closures will occur.

Improve Traffic Safety on the Bay Bridge

Caltrans must go decisively to get better traffic safety on the Bay Bridge, where half events weren't enough to prevent a fatal accident on tricky stretch of road. The skid marks at the start of the new westbound S-curve tell the story: This danger zone is catching drivers off guard.

Drivers need to slow down on a slalom course of temporary roadway, where a motor vehicle driver died when his rig shot over the side and plummeted 200 feet to Treasure Island in the predawn hours Monday. Since Sept. 8 when the S-curve section was put in use, 40-plus accidents have occurred on the football-field length of pavement.

Caltrans has posted illuminated warning signs and a summary speed limit from 50 to 35 mph in the area. But before Monday's fatal incident, the string of accidents should have motivated Caltrans to try additional safety steps. Drivers, who ignored the go-slow advisories, need more clear warnings. The signs are too late and too subtle.

Bridge planners must reorganize how to handle the bridge's heavy weight of 260,000 drivers per day. It's a challenge made extra difficult by the need to finish building of an adjacent replacement span and merge it at the juncture where the dangerous S-curve is in use. Drivers will have to navigate this precarious stretch until the new span is connected in 2013.

Caltrans announced some minor adjustments Monday, including its plan to add reflective tape to the barriers along the S-curve and additional advisories on the westbound direction. The curve is not as much of a problem in the eastbound direction coming out of Yerba Buena Island, where most drivers tend to slow down for the tunnel. Those fixes may not be enough.

Our immediate concern is for the daily hazard created by the S-turn. Drivers need to be better warned, and speeders need to be cited. As we saw Monday, it can mean the difference between life and death.