Caltrans and MTC Hold Greenwashing Panel for North Bay Freeway Widening
As part of SF Climate Week, the Bay Area Metro Center is hosting a panel discussion on Friday to further gaslight the public into thinking the planned $500 million widening of SR 37 through the North Bay is actually an environmental project. Caltrans and its aligned agencies are calling the widening the “Resilient SR 37 Program.”
“This is a highway expansion through a sensitive salt marsh habitat,” explained TransForm’s Zack Deutsch-Gross in an email to Streetsblog. “Last year the Metropolitan Transportation Commission secured a legislative loophole to ignore special protections for endangered species on the corridor.”
As previously reported, this is a widening that, in addition to being horrific for the environment, will end up underwater in a couple of decades despite the work. “SR 37 already floods today, we’re talking about a $500 temporary project that will be underwater by 2050 (2040 in earlier projections),” added Deutsch-Gross. “The investments made in the interim project do not contribute to the long-term project.”
Transform put together this short video to encapsulate the folly of Caltrans and MTC moving forward with this boondoggle:
“MTC is hosting a session as part of SF Climate Week called Resilient SR 37 Program – An Innovative Approach to Coastal Resilience on Friday,” wrote TransForm’s Laura McCamy. “We’re trying to spread the word about this environmental gaslighting from Caltrans and MTC.”
Indeed, the documentation all around this project is saturated with terminology such as “promoting restoration” and “improving habitat” for critters such as the “salt marsh harvest mouse” (yes, that’s really in there). Caltrans and its partners try really hard to bury what this really is, but facts are ultimately facts. Deep in the documents, for example, Caltrans admits it is also…
…adding an additional travel lane in each direction between Sears Point and Mare Island — where there is now just a single lane in each direction
In other words, they’re going to double the width of 11 miles of the road, pure and simple.
“Highway widening is never a climate solution. It’s disappointing to see SF Climate week participate in greenwashing this highway boondoggle that will actively contribute to the climate crisis,” said Deutsch-Gross.
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