VTA NEWS
CONTACT: Brandi Hall (408) 952-4297 24-hour Media Pager (408) 994-7001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release NR 02 03 February 5, 2007
VTA Schedules Public Meetings for BART to Silicon Valley Draft Supplemental EIR
San Jose, Calif. – The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has scheduled four public meetings this month to provide information and receive comments on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) for the BART to Silicon Valley Project. VTA has prepared the Draft SEIR to identify the environmental impacts resulting from proposed design changes that have occurred during Preliminary and Value Engineering since the VTA Board of Directors certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) in December 2004. The public meetings will be held in the evenings to encourage attendance in the cities of Milpitas, Santa Clara and at two locations in San Jose. The public is invited to visit project exhibits and discuss the project with staff during the Open House starting at 6:30 p.m. A presentation on the Draft SEIR will begin at 7:00 p.m. followed by an opportunity to enter formal comments into the public record. The input received will be addressed in the Final SEIR scheduled to be completed in 2007. The federal document continues in a separate process with a public hearing on that document’s scope expected to be scheduled in April 2007. (more)
The Draft SEIR public meeting locations are as follows: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 San Jose City Hall, Committee Rooms W118 & 119 200 East Santa Clara Street, San Jose This location is served by VTA Bus Lines 22, 23, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 72, 73, 81, 180, Highway 17 Express and VTA Light Rail. Thursday, February 15, 2007 Mission Branch Library, Auditorium 1098 Lexington Street, Santa Clara This location is served by VTA Bus Lines 32 and 60. Monday, February 26, 2007 Milpitas Community Center, Auditorium 457 East Calaveras Boulevard, Milpitas This location is served by VTA Bus Line 47. Wednesday, February 28, 2007 San Jose High Academy 275 North 24th Street, San Jose This location is served by VTA Bus Line 81. In addition to comments received at the public meetings, written comments will be accepted until March 16. The Draft SEIR is available online at www.vtabart-vta.org, or you may request an electronic copy by calling (408) 321-5789. For more information about the BART to Silicon Valley Project or the SEIR process, contact VTA Community Outreach at (408) 321-7575, (TDD only) (408) 321-2330, or visit www.vta.org. (more)
About BART to Silicon Valley The BART to Silicon Valley Project is a 16.1-mile extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system from just south of the future BART Warm Springs Station in Fremont to the cities of Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara. The alignment would include six stations plus one future station, a maintenance facility and vehicle storage yard, as well as a 5-mile tunnel segment through downtown San Jose. The new extension is expected to add 104,000 average weekday boardings to the existing BART system by 2030. Construction is expected to begin in 2009 with service starting in 2016. About the 2000 Measure A Program The 2000 Measure A package of transit improvements was approved by Santa Clara County voters in November 2000 by a 70.3% majority and authorized a 30-year, 1/2 cent sales tax to begin in 2006. Measure A supports the Valley Transportation Plan (VTP) and Expenditure Program, a long-range transportation planning effort focused on addressing the Valley’s transportation needs. VTP provides a balanced transportation system consisting of transit, roadway, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements. The revenue from Measure A enables approximately $2 billion in future state and federal funds to be directed towards these projects. The ZeroEmission Bus Program is one of the 2000 Measure A projects. About VTA Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is an independent special district responsible for bus, light rail and paratransit operations; congestion management; specific highway improvement projects; and, countywide transportation planning. As such, VTA is both an accessible transit provider and multi-modal transportation planning organization involved with transit, highways and roadways, bikeways and pedestrian facilities. VTA provides services to cities throughout the county including Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga and Sunnyvale. ###