By KATHERINE PETERSEN
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Aug. 6 to place two measures to ease the county's traffic congestion on the November ballot.
The Citizens Coalition for Traffic Relief, a group of more than 200 individuals and organizations, drafted the measures.
Measure A lists transportation improvements that aim to provide local solutions to the county's highest priority traffic-congestion problems.
Measure B calls for a nine-year, half-cent sales tax that will pay for the specific improvements described in Measure A, said Carl Guardino, a spokesman for the coalition.
The measure would raise about $1.1 billion, and projects would be slated for completion within the life of the measure.
"The two measures combined equal traffic relief for Santa Clara County residents," Guardino said.
The measures require a simple majority for passage.
About six people who addressed the board opposed placing the measures on the ballot, saying that a two-thirds vote should be required, that improving traffic congestion should not require a tax increase and that people should live closer to their jobs to cut down on commute traffic.
The majority of residents in attendance spoke in favor of the measures, saying they are willing to tax themselves for traffic relief.
Supervisor Ron Gonzales said he agreed that something has to be done about congestion in the county.
"These measures are the next step in doing that. We need to find ways of getting people from where they live to where they work faster. The coalition's proposal is the best way," Gonzales said.
The proposal is a combination of local street repair and mass transit and freeway improvements, Gonzales added.
A citizens watchdog committee, made up of private citizens selected by the Santa Clara County Grand Jury and the League of Women Voters, will conduct annual audits, hold public hearings and issue reports to the public on projects should Measure A pass, Guardino said.
Improvements called for by Measure A include synchronizing the signals on all eight expressways in the county, such as Lawrence and Central; increasing Cal Train service throughout the county; and linking Cal Train to BART in Alameda County.
The measure also calls for widening Highway 880 in north San Jose and patching potholes and implementing other road improvements in all 15 cities in the county.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 14, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.