Global Warming on Free Republic here, here and here
Posted on 10/15/2017 4:16:56 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Highway 37 began life as a private toll road, and was later converted to a state highway. But climate change and sea-level rise will doom the road unless something is done.
For the short term, the ridiculous two-lane section between Sears Point and Vallejo needs to be widened to match the rest of the road, which is four lanes.
Wetlands surrounding the road also need to be restored. It would be reasonable to use some toll money for wetlands restoration, in part to mitigate the effects of construction.
Even with the new funding approved by the Legislature by raising the gas tax, Caltrans has stated that there can be no new construction on Highway 37 until 2088. By then, the road will have sunk beneath the waves.
There are simply too many other major regional priorities, such as Highways 101, 80, 680 and 12 for funding to be available for Highway 37.
There is only one way to relieve the horrendous traffic on Highway 37: converting it to a toll road, and using the money to widen the road.
The toll money would also be available to gradually raise the lowest levels of the road to escape the encroaching San Francisco Bay, and to restore wetlands surrounding the road.
Some have suggested using the recently approved Measure AA money to raise Highway 37. That will do nothing to accomplish the purposes of Measure AA, which is designed to buffer development from sea-level rise by expanding wetlands.
In any case, Measure AA money is hopelessly inadequate to accomplish the major construction needed for Highway 37. It only provides $500 million for the entire San Francisco Bay, and Highway 37 realignment will cost much more than that.
The toll on Highway 37 needs be no higher than the other bay bridges. This will assure that traffic is not diverted to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The modest toll on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge certainly has not stopped the commute traffic there.
A joint task force of the four North Bay counties, including Marin, has carefully considered the options for widening the two-lane section, and raising the road to avoid sea-level rise. They have recognized that a toll is a strong possibility to provide the funds necessary for these improvements.
No toll booths would be necessary. The booth-less system now in use on the Golden Gate Bridge would be used for toll collection, and the existing FasTrak responder would be used on Highway 37.
The toll could also be used to create a bike lane (none exists now).
The equity issue of a toll must be addressed. Is it fairer to commuters to spend up to an hour in stalled traffic each day, or to pay a toll to cure the bottleneck between Sears Point and Vallejo and assure that Highway 37 will continue to be usable in the face of sea-level rise?
Today, there is no public transportation at all on Highway 37. The dispersed nature of the Highway 37 commute probably makes conventional public transit impractical. But vanpools subsidized by toll revenue would be a good alternative for those who wish to avoid the toll.
It would be possible for commuters to meet on Mare Island, where plenty of parking is available. They could vanpool to Marin County, and use SMART and other existing public transportation to get to their workplaces, or simply have the van drop them off at work.
While it is not easy to face the costs imposed on society by climate change, burying our heads in the sand is not the answer. The sand will soon be covered by sea water.
Jerry Meral of Inverness is the California Water Program director, Natural Heritage Institute.
Global Warming on Free Republic here, here and here
The sea levels are going down.
At least they won’t slap tolls on the road to improve the highway. They are quite upfront:
“It would be reasonable to use some toll money for wetlands restoration”
...The sea levels are going down...
Obama did that, didn’t he?
Maybe Gaia doesn't want humans driving through her wetlands anymore!
Bush's fault.
These people have no shame, blaming the need to widen a road on global warming.
Wow, this article is like so many of the scientific articles that constitute the “proof” of anthropogenic global warming—no matter what the actual cause of the phenomenon being reported, always include the phrase “because of climate change.”
It could never be that the road is sinking because it was built over a marsh... never...
The article illustrates something else. Despite the proposition system that is supposed to cause bonds to be issued for various infrastructure or school projects, those projects still never have sufficient funding. Hmm... what if the state of CA would stop diverting tax and bond revenues to social programs (e.g. education and health care for illegal aliens) and used them for their intended purpose?
Every time I go back to CA, I see that the infrastructure decay continues... yet the cost of living is outrageous and the rate of taxation is burdensome. The state’s budget has been mismanaged for years.
Californication already extracts the highest taxes including a gasoline tax and then the state sales tax ON TOP OF THAT, plus among the highest vehicle registration fees
and yet california can’t seem to build a single new highway no matter how badly it is needed
the $$$ is obviously being stolen by the politicians
“These people have no shame, blaming the need to widen a road on global warming”
Its Marin County....almost 80 % for Hillary. Run the the road off a cliff somewhere.
If these options are not acceptable, we could just nuke it from orbit and start over. That has a certain appeal.
Probably going to be an expensive toll when factoring in charges for global warming, sea level rise, wet land restoration, fossil fuel/electric car equalization, state/county/local sales taxes, highway commission administration charges, high speed rail subsidy, and state 12% corruption charge.
And the bike riders should pay a toll as well; ya know (wink, wink, nod, nod) just until the bonds are paid off. Will the bonds be paid off in dollars, or pesos? OR do the bondholders have to press 1 for dollars, 2 for illegals, etc.?
The rail BART system is so raunchy and filthy with bums beggars and druggies that decent people are trying every possible way to avoid it. Oh yea, BART officially announced the reason it’s escalators almost never work is -—— too much human excrement jamming the gears For this the taxpayers shelled out Billions and the fares are high on top of that.
This past week, we tried to go west on 37 early Monday Morning to evacuate from the fire and did come back on it Friday. The road is terrible shape.
Build a toll road and charge the same tolls as the bridges.
The liberals, who live in Vallejo/Fairfield drive west in the morning and back home in the evening.
The liberals, who live in Marvelous Marin County drive east in the morning and west in the evening.
Let them pay the tolls for building, upkeep and general maintenance.
Time to issue fair use costs. If you use it, you should pay for the costs. If you don’t use it, you shouldn’t have to pay for it.
"Probably going to be an expensive toll when factoring in charges for global warming, sea level rise, wet land restoration, fossil fuel/electric car equalization, state/county/local sales taxes, highway commission administration charges, high speed rail subsidy, and 300 to 500% California corruption charge."
They lie. Current toll fees gathered by CalTrans fund various road projects around the SF Bay, including road widening on and around connectors to Highway 37. Paid for by current bridge tolls. Just the tolls collected for the SF/Oakland Bay Bridge have enabled CalTrans to fund building of most other bridges on the Bay. They have plenty of current funding, and waste a lot on ferry boats, buses and administrators.
The flooding occurs during King Tide events. King Tide events have nothing to do with Gorebull warming. King Tide events occur during specific time of year and have for eons..
King tides are simply the very highest tides. They are naturally occurring, predictable events.
King tides are simply the very highest tides. They are naturally occurring, predictable events.
Tides are the movement of water across Earth’s surface caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon, Sun, and the rotation of Earth which manifest in the local rise and fall of sea levels. Tides are driven by the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, Moon, land formations, and relative location on Earth. In the lunar month, the highest tides occur roughly every 14 days, at the new and full moons, when the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun are in alignment. These highest tides in the lunar cycle are called spring tides.
The proximity of the Moon in relation to Earth and Earth in relation to the Sun also has an effect on tidal ranges. The Moon moves around Earth in an elliptic orbit that takes about 29 days to complete. The gravitational force is greatest when the Moon is at perigee — closest to Earth — and least when it is at apogee — farthest from Earth — about two weeks after perigee. The Moon has a larger effect on the tides than the Sun, but the Sun’s position also has an influence on the tides. Earth moves around the Sun in an elliptic orbit that takes a little over 365 days to complete. Its gravitational force is greatest when the Earth is at perihelion — closest to the Sun in early January — and least when the Earth is at aphelion — farthest from the Sun in early July.
The king tides occur when the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned at perigee and perihelion, resulting in the largest tidal range seen over the course of a year. So, tides are enhanced when the Earth is closest to the Sun around January 2 of each year. They are reduced when it is furthest from the Sun, around July 2. [2]
The predicted heights of a king tide can be further augmented by local weather patterns and ocean conditions.
Saw “climate change” and knew the article was pure BS written by someone to whom a wedge is a complex tool.
Journalism-when third grade proved to one that a true advanced education was not in their future.
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