Once completed, the project will stretch more than 200 miles and allow residents to bike from the edge of the San Joaquin Delta in eastern Contra Costa County to Berkeley and Oakland along the San Francisco Bay and Livermore to the south in Alameda County.

Pat O’Brien, General Manager of the East Bay Regional Park District, tasked with overseeing the funds, told the San Francisco Chronicle: “this is probably one of the most incredible things we’ve done. It’s really a hallmark for East Bay residents.”

The project is expected to create up to 500 jobs in engineering, trades, design and environmental law and compliance, according to Streetsblog San Francisco.

Many East Bay advocates for bicycling and transportation options have been around since the project’s conception.

“I’ve been working on getting this crossing funded since 2001, and it’s been nip and tuck all the way, especially when the economy tanked,” said Bruce “Ole” Ohlson of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition.

Some communities covered by the trail, such as Brentwood and Antioch, are located on the suburban fringe and have been historically inaccessible to non-automotive forms of transportation. With these funds, the Mokelumne Trail will allow bicyclists access between the adjacent cities through development of a new Highway 4 bypass.

“This is the suburbs, and when they were building streets, the last thing they did was build them friendly to bicycling,” said Ohlson.

Other portions of the trail will connect to BART service, the Bay Area’s commuter rail system, expanding options for getting to work and making the highways a little less congested.

“When the Iron Horse Trail is completed to Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station, everyday is going to be Bike to Work Day in Pleasanton,” says Dave Campbell, Program Director for the East Bay Bicycle Coalition.

Several other communities, including Albany, Hercules, Martinez and Crockett will also be included in the trail extensions.

Yesterday, four members of Congress whose districts include the project — George Miller, Pete Stark, Barbara Lee and John Garamendi — joined bicyclists, East Bay Regional Park Board members and others to celebrate the TIGER award in an press conference at the portion of the project that will connect to the Coliseum/Oakland Airport station.

Check out the very impressive full map of the network below.

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series profiling the winners of the US DOT’s TIGER grants on the T4 America blog. For more information about the TIGER grants, view our interactive map and list of all the winners, read the rest of the posts in this series profiling the winners, and read all TIGER-related stories with the “TIGER” tag from the blog.

It is thus understandable that panic ensued after a part snapped off in high winds and fell onto the roadway, resulting in a complete shutdown of the Bay Bridge early Tuesday. Thankfully, though at least two vehicles either ran into or hit the fallen part, no injuries resulted. As of this morning, the bridge remains closed without a date certain for re-opening.

The Bay Bridge was last closed down over Labor Day weekend, during which engineers discovered an unexpected crack. This structural flaw nearly delayed the bridge from reopening on-time, but crews received the needed materials in just enough time for the post-weekend morning commute.

It was one of those last minute repair pieces that broke off Tuesday, although engineers could not say whether the Labor Day rush had anything to do with it. Heavy winds are another potential culprit — hardly an uncommon occurrence in the Bay Area, however.

Once the bridge was closed, the immediate focus shifted to the Wednesday morning commute. Prognosticators were predicting mass chaos and never-ending gridlock as far as the eye could see on Wednesday morning.

Officials with the BART subway system arranged for extra train cars and personnel to accommodate the expected surge in passengers, leading to a record day of ridership that crushed the previous high water mark. Ferry agencies across the Bay ramped up service and Amtrak is providing a shuttle. MUNI, AC Transit, and other local agencies also stepped up rates of service and frequency to meet the demand.

Despite similar predictions of chaos and gridlock, commuters, transit agencies and officials effectively coped with the collapse of a major overpass near the Bay Bridge in April 2007. Many drivers quickly developed alternate routes or shifted their schedule, BART was effective at expanding capacity and major thoroughfares were crowded, but not gridlocked.

Media accounts accounts for this week indicate Bay Area officials have handled the shutdown relatively smoothly, especially considering how many vehicles use this bridge every day. BART trains were filled to capacity and the Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridges — both adjacent to the Bay Bridge — were jammed with cars but still moving, albeit at a sluggish pace.

As far as we can tell, California Department of Transportation officials have been responsive and responsible about safety and structural integrity. It is important they be given the time to get this right.

But even if the time crunch during Labor Day weekend did not contribute to the problem, it should be cause for concern. In too many transportation projects, safety is shelved in favor of speed and grandeur. Part of the Bay Area’s ability to cope is the investment they’ve made in a variety of transportation options and modes. Which begs the question, how would metropolitan areas that lack these alternatives fare if a similar incident occurred?

Diversity of options isn’t just about cutting emissions or reducing fuel consumption. A complete network is one that can continue functioning when a few parts go down. A city dependent completely on cars and interstates (or 1 or 2 transit lines) is a vulnerable city.

Across America, children, seniors, the disabled and people who do not or cannot drive are at risk due to unsafe streets and crumbling sidewalks. We cannot afford to spend untold billions on new projects if we cannot keep old ones from crumbling.  Including strong “fix-it first” language in the transportation bill re-authorization would ensure that existing roads and bridges get the upgrades they need to keep commuters and all users safe.

In addition, the Critical Asset Investment Program proposed in Chairman Oberstar’s transportation bill would create a substantial, dedicated funding stream for maintaining roads and bridges, preventing states from diverting those funds to more political popular highway expansion projects. This program would also require transit agencies to show how they are maintaining their systems and keeping them in “a state of good repair.”

The Bay Area will get through this. But the incident is a reminder that transportation policy cannot be a piecemeal, crisis-to-crisis endeavor.

An organization representing more than 300 elite Silicon Valley businesses from Apple to Yahoo! sent a letter last week to Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, urging her to make sure the Senate climate bill adequately invests in clean transportation alternatives to reduce emissions in their region while keeping it mobile and competitive.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, made up of mostly tech-focused organizations in Silicon Valley, works to enhance economic competitiveness and maintain a high quality of life for the region. SVLG members employ more than 250,000 people in the Valley and generate more than $1 trillion worth of business each year. (SVLG is a partner of Transportation for America.)

Started in the 1970′s by the founder of Hewlett Packard, they recognize that investments in transit and safe, accessible, walkable neighborhoods are keys to their continued economic success and ability to lure smart and talented workers to the region.

In the letter, president Carl Guardino thanked Chairman Boxer for her leadership on the issue of climate change, and pointed out that California will need to make a large investment in cleaner transportation options if they are going to have any chance of meeting the ambitious reductions proposed in the climate bill:

Transportation represents the fastest growing source of national greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and the largest single source in California, accounting for 40% of emissions. In Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, that number is higher still – 51% of GHG’s.

House bill, H.R. 2454 (Waxman/Markey), recognizes the importance of reducing transportation emissions by requiring states and metropolitan areas adopt new planning requirements and GHG reduction goals. However, the bill provides virtually no allowances for this purpose. Without adequate funding to address transportation’s increasing contribution to climate change, we will not be able to rise and meet this challenge.

The debate over the Senate’s climate bill is expected to heat up in the next few days as Chairman Boxer’s Senate committee releases the numbers showing where the allocations from the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act will be directed.

Transportation for America, our 28,000 supporters and 350+ partners like SVLG have been calling on the Senate to direct 10 percent of the funding to clean transportation alternatives.

The Senate bill will require states and cities to reduce emissions from transportation. Giving them 5-10% of the revenues will give them the tools they need to make investments in clean transportation alternatives, like public transportation and passenger rail, affordable neighborhoods around transit stops and neighborhood projects that increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

Click the jump to read through the entire letter from the SVLG.

Dear Senator Boxer,

On behalf of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, I want to thank you for your leadership in crafting legislation to address climate change. The Leadership Group believes a necessary component of this legislation is to dedicate at least 10 percent of a climate bill’s revenues toward clean transportation programs and projects.

As background, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, founded in 1978 by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard, represents more than 300 of Silicon Valley’s most respected employers on issues, programs and campaigns affecting the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley, including transportation, education, economic vitality and the environment. Leadership Group members collectively account for more than 250,000 local jobs, or one of every four private sector jobs in Silicon Valley.

Transportation represents the fastest growing source of national greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and the largest single source in California, accounting for 40% of emissions. In Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, that number is higher still – 51% of GHG’s.

House bill, H.R. 2454 (Waxman/Markey), recognizes the importance of reducing transportation emissions by requiring states and metropolitan areas adopt new planning requirements and GHG reduction goals. However, the bill provides virtually no allowances for this purpose. Without adequate funding to address transportation’s increasing contribution to climate change, we will not be able to rise and meet this challenge.

Thank you again for your leadership and you have our sincerest thanks for considering the inclusion of robust clean transportation funding in the climate change bill.

Sincerely,

Carl Guardino
President and CEO
Silicon Valley Leadership Group