by Around Dublin Team on August 18, 2010 | 
3 Comments | Topics: Public Works
The Spot the Express Lane Car promotional contest is offered by Solem & Associates. To qualify for the $680 in prize money, contestants must complete and submit the entry form online at I-680 official website. This Promotion is open to everyone who completes and submits the online form before September 10th at 11:59PM.
by Around Dublin Team on August 9, 2010 | 2 Comments | Topics: Announcements · Public Works
With the new I-680 Express Lane set to open on Monday, September 20, 2010, drivers who sign up for a FasTrak® account now will receive a $10 toll credit to use on the new lane. The $10 toll credit is being offered because many regular commuters on I-680 do not have FasTrak accounts and, therefore, would not be able to use the new Express Lane.
by John M. Zukoski on July 29, 2010 | 7 Comments | Topics: Opinions · Public Works
The 14-mile southbound I-680 Express Lane is set to open on September 20th at 5AM between Pleasanton and Milpitas. It is currently free to carpoolers, motorcycles, and hybrid vehicles. Alameda County will be using the FasTrak system to collect Express Lane tolls from drivers Monday through Friday during the hours of 5AM-8PM. The California Highway Patrol will enforce the FasTrak requirements at the various entry and exit points. Alameda County will be using a “dynamic pricing” model to increase or decrease tolls depending on the amount of traffic in the Express Lane. Motorists pay $5-$7 to travel in the Express Lane during peak hours. In 2011, a second Express Lane is set to be unveiled on eastbound I-580 along the 11-mile stretch between Hacienda Drive and Greenville Road.
Tolls collected from the Express Lane motorists will primarily be used for providing transit services and adding more Express Lanes along I-680/I-580; however, what portion of the driving tax proceeds will be used for other purposes such as bridging State funding gaps for various County and local agencies remains unclear. The freeways are no longer free.
What Do the New Express Lanes Mean For Your Wallet?
by Around Dublin Team on July 17, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Public Works
Driving east on Interstate 580 toward Costco and LVCP, Dublin’s second public high school option, will get easier starting today, as Caltrans and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency open an additional 2.9 miles of the new HOV lane from Airway Boulevard to past Portola Road in Livermore, CA.
Caltrans and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency also announced that the full 12-mile HOV lane, from Hacienda Road in Pleasanton to Greenville Road in Livermore, is now expected to open a full year ahead of schedule in Fall 2010. The 12-mile HOV lane will be converted to an Express Lane next year, giving solo drivers the choice of using the lane by paying a toll electronically via a FasTrak toll tag, while carpools and other HOV vehicles will continue to use the lane for free.
“This lane will help relieve congestion on one of the Bay Area’s busiest stretches of freeway: I-580 from Pleasanton eastward,” said Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, Chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “I am pleased that construction is ahead of schedule so we can bring drivers a better trip sooner.”
The first segment of the I-580 eastbound HOV lane, 4.5 miles from east of Portola Road to Greenville Road, opened in October 2009. “Traffic on the eastern portion of the I-580 corridor definitely got better once the new carpool lane opened,” said Mark Green, Chair of the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency. “Reducing congestion on an additional 2.9 miles will improve air quality and driving time for thousands of people every day.”
by Around Dublin Team on July 1, 2010 | 1 Comment | Topics: Announcements · Public Works
A toll increase on the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges, along with several other important changes, goes into effect today, July 1, 2010. These include the debut of congestion pricing — also known as time-of-day pricing — on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which is by far the region’s busiest toll bridge. Starting July 1, automobile tolls on the Bay Bridge will vary from $4 during weekday off-peak hours, to $5 all day on Saturdays and Sundays, to $6 from 5AM to 10AM and from 3PM to 7PM on weekdays. The regular automobile toll will rise to $5 at all times on the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridges. BATA invites Bay Area residents to visit www.mtc.ca.gov/tolls/ for more information about this latest toll increase.
by John M. Zukoski on June 30, 2010 | 9 Comments | Topics: Opinions · Public Works
The stretch of Dublin Boulevard between Lockhart Street and Fallon Road is finally open. This portion of Dublin’s main road has been barricaded for the past two years in a stand-off over the controversial future Stoneridge Drive extension between the Cities of Dublin and Pleasanton. The City of Dublin had wanted to hold off on opening the easternmost segment of Dublin Boulevard until Pleasanton builds out Stoneridge Drive, so both cities can equally share the burden of cut-through commute traffic to and from the East Bay.
“Why has the City of Dublin opened up Dublin Boulevard, if the City of Pleasanton is not approving the Stoneridge Drive extension anytime soon?”
by Around Dublin Team on June 27, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Public Works
Zone 7 Water Agency is planning to repair several bank slides along the Iron Horse Trail in
Dublin. The repairs are located between Amador Valley Boulevard and the County Line are
scheduled to take place in mid-to-late July. In order to keep the trails operational during the
repairs, Zone 7 Water Agency had graded a handful of detours onto the property adjacent to the trail from June 14 to June 17. Please contact Dexter Yee at Zone 7 Water Agency with any questions regarding the slide repairs or the planned trail detours, (925) 454-5080.
Zone 7 Water Agency is committed to providing a reliable supply of high quality water and an effective flood control system to the Livermore-Amador Valley. It supplies treated drinking water to retailers serving nearly 200,000 people in Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, and, through special agreement with the Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD), to the Dougherty Valley area. It also supplies agricultural water to 3,500 acres, primarily South Livermore Valley vineyards, and provides flood protection to all of eastern Alameda County. In fulfilling present and future commitments to the community, Zone 7 Water Agency strives to develop and manage the water resources in a fiscally responsible, innovative, proactive, and environmentally sensitive way.
by Around Dublin Team on June 26, 2010 | 4 Comments | Topics: Announcements · Public Works
Northern California’s first Express Lane, covering 14 miles of I-680 southbound from Pleasanton to Milpitas, will open Monday, September 20 at 5AM. The opening will launch a new era in Bay Area transportation and congestion management. For the first time, solo drivers can choose to use the carpool lane by paying a toll electronically via a FasTrak® toll tag. Carpools, transit vehicles, and motorcycles, as well as hybrid vehicles with a valid sticker, may continue to use the lane for free.
“The new Express Lane will be a great step forward for drivers who want a reliable trip without risking a backup,” said Scott Haggerty, chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and of the joint powers authority overseeing the I-680 Express Lane. “Things will soon be easier for everyone driving south over the Sunol Grade because the I-680 project is on schedule to open on September 20.”
by John M. Zukoski on June 22, 2010 | 9 Comments | Topics: Development · Public Works · Sustainability
Dublin residents may have noticed patches of sidewalk being pulled out along Dublin Boulevard. These targeted sidewalk removals are part of the new bus stop construction for the Tri-Valley Rapid, an innovative mass transportation initiative. Through the use of technologies like bus signal priority, the Rapid will not get held up at every light, so bus riders can go through the Tri-Valley in record time. In addition to offering riders a significantly shorter average commute time, the Rapid is environmentally friendly. Powered by low-emission electric hybrid technology, the Rapid is an effective way to get cars off the road, reduce the Tri-Valley region’s carbon footprint, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption.
The Tri-Valley Rapid project will cost a total of $13M, with $11M coming from the Federal government, $1M from sales tax proceeds, $700K from California’s Proposition 1B funds, and $400K from the Transportation Fund for Clean Air. Once in operation, Tri-Valley Rapid will cost an estimated $1.4M per year to maintain for an estimated 6,400 average weekday riders.
