I-580 Advanced Right of Way Protection

Rapid development in Alameda County and the Central Valley has resulted in increased interregional traffic in recent years and will continue to grow outpacing the capacity of freeway system. Traffic delays have steadily grown worse along the I-580 corridor over the past decade. The future expansion of a mass transit system will provide a necessary alternative to the dependence on the automobile as the primary mode of travel. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) travel projections show that commutes to and from the Bay Area will nearly double over the next 20 years.

Unless steps are taken in the near-term to preserve the required right of way to plan and build these improvements, development will occur adjacent to the corridor that will preclude the opportunity to widen the freeway corridor, or significantly increase the ultimate project cost of doing so.

The Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (ACCMA) in partnership with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Alameda County Transportation Authority (ACTIA) is developing a strategy that will identify and acquire the ultimate right of way along the I-580 corridor from the Hacienda Drive Interchange in Pleasanton to beyond the Vasco Road Interchange in Livermore.

The ultimate right of way will be a maximum of 246 feet wide to include provisions for:

• A future 46-foot wide median transit corridor.

• 14-foot inside shoulders in each direction.

• 12-foot wide high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes with 4 foot outside buffer in each direction.

• Four 12-foot wide mixed flow lanes in each direction.

• 12-foot auxiliary lanes and 10-foot outside shoulders in each direction.

This strategy also includes the coordination and identification for the relocation of the existing utilities to outside of the ultimate freeway right of way.