Steinberg jumps into Measure A tax fray, wants county to assure lower car emissions

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said Thursday he may withhold his support for a county transportation funding ballot measure unless officials assure that one of the biggest projects in the plan — an expressway through Folsom, Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove — won’t undermine the region’s attempts to reduce auto emissions.

If he gets that assurance, Steinberg said in a letter, he would be willing to step in as a lead campaigner for Measure A, and would help find funding to advance what likely will be a tight November vote.

The power move by the mayor comes just a week before the Sacramento Transportation Authority’s self-imposed deadline to finalize a much-debated transportation improvement plan to be funded by a proposed sales tax increase. The goal is to ask votes to approve a half-cent sales tax increase for 40 years.

The California Air Resources Board sent the authority a letter as well on Thursday suggesting it drop the 30-plus-mile Capital SouthEast Connector roadway entirely from its project funding list to assure that the county’s transportation spending plan meets air quality goals.

The authority’s board is expected to vote on the plan March 12, then bring it to the Sacramento City Council and other city councils in the county for their approval in the next two months. After that, they would ask the county Board of Supervisors to put it on the November ballot.

Agency officials have been negotiating the measure’s final wording in recent weeks, a process that includes behind-the-scenes horsetrading among county and cities’ representatives.

The measure, if approved by voters, is expected to generate $8 billion to be divvied up among cities and other local agencies to fund road repairs, expand some roads and freeways, and expand transit and bike and pedestrian facilities.

Steinberg did not suggest the agency take the SouthEast Connector project out of the measure in his letter.

Instead, he singled out a several-mile central section of the proposed expressway, saying he is unlikely to support Measure A unless the ballot includes wording that says that section of the connector cannot receive Measure A funds unless it undergoes a test to determine whether it would harm the county’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 19 percent by 2035.

The connector would run along the White Rock, Grant Line and Kammerer road alignments, starting at the El Dorado County line, running southwest behind Folsom, Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove, then extending along Kammerer Road between Highway 99 and Interstate 5.

Most sections of the connector road already have been vetted environmentally and approved. But a central segment in the Elk Grove area has not yet been tested to see if added cars there would increase the region’s emissions enough to put Sacramento at risk of losing federal transportation funds.

The Sacramento area currently is non-compliant with federal air quality standards, but continues to receive federal transportation funding as long as it stays on track toward compliance. One element of that involves reducing vehicle emissions over time. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments last fall set the 19-percent reduction goal.

Steinberg says his challenge to the Measure A effort is limited to making sure the county sticks to that goal.

“We have spent years developing a regional transportation and planning blueprint committed to being leaders in the fight around climate,” he said. “In November, we boldly increased our commitment to 19 percent GHG (greenhouse gas) reduction by 2035.

“The STA has the opportunity to put before the voters the most important financing piece of the regional transportation and land use plan, and I believe it is just common sense that the finance plan must be consistent with the region’s clear commitment to reduce GHG by 19 percent.”

Transportation authority board members from eastern Sacramento County are strong proponents of building the entire SouthEast Connector, saying they believe the expanded road would reduce emissions by giving commuters a quicker alternative to congestion on Highways 99 and 50.

Elk Grove Councilman Pat Hume also argues that cars will be cleaner and more fuel efficient in the future, and that more people will be driving electric cars. In addition to transit projects, he says, the region needs to focus on making sure that Measure A reduces congestion through strategic road-building, such as the expressway.

Hume said he was displeased that, at the last minute, Steinberg is stepping into a process that has involved ongoing negotiations for months among agency board members, who represent the county and cities including Sacramento. He said the measure faces a tough two-thirds vote to pass, and will not pass if there is notable opposition.

“Too many chefs are going to spoil the soup,” Hume said. “We need to coalesce behind something with some positivity.”

Opponents of the connector road, including some environmentalists, counter that the planned expressway already is promoting more suburban growth along its edges, creating more long car commutes, more congestion and more emissions. They say the governments should focus more funding on transit, bicycling and walking, and on building more dense housing near transit to reduce the need for car usage.

In its letter to the STA, the state air resources board contends the connector road is not consistent with the region’s sustainable growth policies, and called on the STA to work with the region’s planners at SACOG “to develop a more complete analysis of regional (vehicle miles traveled) that would result from the expenditure plan, which could help inform the STA Board’s deliberations.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 1:31 PM.