Priorities: Transportation

By Robert "Bob" Wieckowski

Great opportunities exist for Fremont to benefit from transit oriented development. This approach can bring about real change to enhance our city and personal lifestyles by creating a vibrant downtown, a vital Irvington district, and a reinvigorated Warm Springs. We can achieve this by increasing access to transportation while taking steps to reduce traffic generated noise and congestion.

At this time we are watching our partners in Santa Clara County as the voters there consider Measure B, which will be a 1/8th cent sales tax increase for transit operations. With the passage of measure B, it's effectively a guarantee that BART will be extended into Santa Clara County and San Jose. Together with our redevelopment commitment to raise the cap and construct an Irvington BART station, Fremont will enjoy a radical change from being a 1 BART station city to a 3 BART station city. The benefits to local commuters and businesses will be substantial.

This is the sort of civic effort I practice in all that I do for the city: full participation and partnership with all effected constituencies working toward valuable and necessary goals.

Noise and congestion are urban challenges solved by traffic oriented development. It also reduces our dependence on the automobile.

I share the concern of all citizens who contend with the constant blaring of train horns throughout our city. Last year the City Council adopted a program to implement "Quiet zones" at each railway crossing through the City. Quiet zones remove the necessity of locomotives blasting their horns and enhance the value of surrounding properties and the quality of life for those who live, work, and commute throughout our city.

Adoption of a comprehensive and forward looking quiet zone policy at all our train crossings in order to eliminate the obnoxious noise each time they cross through is just one step. The Council very wisely insisted that any noise abatement program include a high level of public safety. By insisting on improvements beyond noise reduction, the Council has assured that safety for citizens and visitors will not be compromised at train crossings.

Funding is always an issue for traffic measures. In order to reduce the burden on Fremont taxpayers, I went to Washington DC and lobbied our representatives in the House and Senate for seed money to establish Fremont as the pilot program for developing quiet zones in cities throughout the United States. In February of this year, I personally spoke directly to Senator Feinstein, and Congressional Representatives Pete Stark, Ellen Tauscher and Mike Honda about Fremont's efforts to integrate quiet zones into our transit oriented development plan.

Upon reelection, I will continue to seek out funding to make sure that quiet zones are extended throughout the city of Fremont.