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San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is concerned about a projected $3 billion cost overrun for the BART extension to downtown San Jose, attributed to designs that use a controversial single-bore, 85-foot-deep subway concept pushed by VTA.

Nevertheless, VTA is moving forward. From a San Jose Mercury News story about the VTA Board’s decision Thursday to award contracts for the project. “VTA approves $235 million San Jose BART extension contract — so why is it also reviewing its controversial design?”:

The unanimous vote from the board puts the VTA in the unusual position of awarding a $235 million contract that moves forward with the extension’s “single-bore” tunnel plan, while simultaneously launching a new analysis of the contentious design.

A map of the extension. Image: VTA

As reported previously, in an attempt to eliminate disruption to merchants, VTA had decided on a $9 billion deep, single-bore subway plan–which analysis shows could cost some $3 billion more than conventional tunneling–to construct the six-mile BART extension under downtown San Jose. VTA’s preferred design would place the two tracks stacked one above the other inside a super-large, single tunnel (see comparative diagrams below). This single-bore construction technique can make sense in cities that need to avoid underground obstacles such as legacy subway tunnels (think London, Tokyo, etc). But, of course, there aren’t any subways, crooked streets, or other such obstacles in San Jose.

VTA’s design for a single, very deep bore through downtown San Jose. This concept is supported by merchants because it minimizes temporary surface disruptions. Image: BEARD
The traditional, twin-bore configuration would have a max depth of 55 feet for riders, versus 85 feet for single-bore. Image: BEARD

But merchants always want transit in a subway, the deeper the better, with the belief that if it’s deep underground construction will have no impact on their businesses. It also, however, means when the subway is finished riders will have longer trips to and from the platforms. It also complicates construction, fire safety, and operations, since trains can’t switch from track to track without building complicated ramps between the two levels.

Nevertheless, it seemed San Jose politics had all but locked in the controversial, single-bore design, despite pushback from transit advocates. But at Thursday evening’s VTA board meeting, as reported in advocate Adina Levin’s Green Caltrain blog, Mayor Liccardo submitted his memo calling for reviews of the project to explore:

• Better connections at Diridon Station
• Entrances on both sides of Santa Clara Street at the downtown station
• Support for very high density transit oriented development

…and, most notably, an independent analysis comparing single-bore and dual-bore options, building on an earlier analysis done in 2017. Also from Green Caltrain:

“…the tradeoffs of the single and dual-bore options with regard to “passenger safety, rider access and experience, cost, and construction delay.” The previous analysis in 2017 had focused on constructability and operability, but did not compare the construction techniques for the ability to support better rider access and dense transit oriented development.

The memo from the Mayor is co-signed by San Jose Council Member and VTA board chair Chappie Jones, and Council Member Raul Peralez. Earlier this year, San Jose City Council had approved a resolution calling for improvements to the project relating to transit connections, multiple entrances, TOD, and alleviating construction impacts on businesses.

Since VTA originally made the decision in favor of the single bore option in 2018, concerns have grown regarding limitations in the project design and increasing cost estimates. SPUR and grassroots advocacy organizations such as the Transbay Coalition and Friends of Caltrain have called for passenger-focused improvements to the project, including adding entrances on both sides of the street, better passenger flow, better transit connections, and better support for transit-oriented development. A conventional subway design, with the train tunnels built side-by-side and far closer to the surface, makes it easier to accommodate such improvements.

Read more on the Green Caltrain blog and check out the coverage in the SJ Merc News.

The post Memo Requires Reconsideration of BART Extension Design – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

• Tim BontempsESPN

The NBA announced to teams that recently enacted laws in both New York City and San Francisco regarding vaccine requirements – including for gamers – will be enforced for members of the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, and Golden State Warriors, unless there are an approved medical or religious exemption from attending them, according to a memo ESPN received on Wednesday.

Both cities recently passed laws mandating some COVID-19 vaccination in different settings.

In New York, beginning September 13, people over the age of 12 will not be allowed to enter “certain indoor spaces” within the city – including the Barclays Center, home of the Nets, Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks, and any other indoor gym or fitness facility – without evidence of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, unless there is an approved medical or religious exception for them who do not.

In San Francisco, effective October 13, everyone over the age of 12 must present a full vaccination card before attending any major event – including an NBA game at the Chase Center – or any indoor gym or other fitness facility. again, unless there is an approved medical or religious exception for them who don’t.

These laws only apply to Knicks, Nets and Warriors players and not to visiting team members who play in these clubs. This is because the laws in both New York City and San Francisco provide exemptions for out-of-town teams who come to those cities to play games. However, these exceptions do not exist for the home teams in these cities.

In the memo, the NBA said that by Friday, all 30 NBA teams must provide the information to each incompletely vaccinated player on their roster and that they must inform the league office of exactly which players are not fully vaccinated. It also states that if a team signs a player who is not fully vaccinated, they must provide that information to the player and inform the league that they have done so.

The league stated that similar vaccination requirements could be considered in other NBA markets, and it is possible that some of them – unlike New York and San Francisco – could also consider visiting team vaccination requirements. And the league said there might be other restrictions on unvaccinated players, pointing out that Toronto is expected to allow unvaccinated players to play in games – as long as they have a negative COVID-19 test – but they will . They neither interact with people outside of their team’s travel group, nor can they leave their hotel, except for training or games.

The Athletic first reported the news of the existence of the memo.

ESPN previously reported that the league last week informed teams in a memo that any staff under team control who work within 4.5 meters of players or referees during games will be fully against COVID for the coming season -19 must be vaccinated.

The policy specifically included coaches, front office members and coaches, but did not require all players to be vaccinated.

The league-wide vaccination of players is the subject of negotiations with the National Basketball Players Association.

The NBA has set a deadline for full vaccination of team staff on October 1, leaving open the possibility that a booster may be required at a later date. The mandate applies to all employees who work in the vicinity of the court, including broadcasters, scoreboard operators, photographers and security guards. In addition, all back-of-house operations must be vaccinated, including locker room staff, medical staff, equipment managers, and food and beverage retailers and suppliers.

NBA training camps open on September 28th. The regular season starts on October 19th.

In a separate memo, mailed to teams on Wednesday and also received by ESPN, the league highlighted some preliminary arena operation logs for the upcoming season. The memo states that the logs are ongoing and a number of final logs are expected to be circulated in mid-September.

The preliminary minutes state that the rows of seats for the home and visiting teams as well as the home, visiting and referee locker rooms are expected to revert to the 2019-20 seating order. During the pandemic, teams provided cooler chairs and the non-bench staff seats were physically removed from the team benches.

Teams have also been asked to possibly plan to assign incompletely vaccinated players to lockers “as far away as possible from other players, and that the nearest other players are fully vaccinated (i.e. to avoid using not fully vaccinated players will). in adjoining lockers) “, the memo says. All staff are expected to wear face masks on match day at least at the beginning of the season, the memo says.

Additionally, the memo states that in the run-up to the season it is currently assumed that fans 2 years and older will sit in or have access to areas that are within 4.5 feet of the players – like the pitch, the Dressing rooms, the back of the bench, or the scorer table, among others, must either be fully vaccinated or return a negative test result before the game. Negative test results could either come from a PCR test done two days before the game or from an approved rapid test taken on the day of the game, the memo says.

ESPN’s Baxter Holmes contributed to this report.

The post Vaccine necessities particular to New York Metropolis and San Francisco will likely be enforced for groups in these cities, NBA memo says appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Both cities recently passed laws mandating some COVID-19 vaccination in different settings.

In New York City, beginning September 13, people over the age of 12 will not be allowed to enter “certain covered spaces” within the city – including the Barclays Center, the home of the Nets, Madison Square Garden, the home of the Knicks, and all other indoor Gyms or fitness facilities – with no evidence of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, unless there is an approved medical or religious exception for them who don’t.

In San Francisco, beginning October 13, everyone over the age of 12 will be required to show they are fully vaccinated prior to attending major events – including NBA games at the Chase Center – as well as indoor gyms or other fitness facilities, unless one is available Approved medical or religious dispensation if they don’t.

These laws only apply to players on the Knicks, Nets, and Warriors, and not to visiting team members who come to play those teams. This is because the laws in both New York City and San Francisco provide exemptions for out-of-town teams who come to those cities to play games. However, these exceptions do not exist for the home teams in these cities.

In the memo, the NBA said that by Friday, all 30 NBA teams must provide the information to each incompletely vaccinated player in their roster and that they must tell the league office exactly which players are not yet fully vaccinated. It also states that if a team signs a player who is not fully vaccinated, they must provide that information to the player and inform the league about it.

The league also stated that similar vaccination requirements could be considered in other NBA markets and that some of them – unlike New York and San Francisco – might also consider visiting team vaccination requirements. It also said there might be other restrictions on unvaccinated players, pointing out that in Toronto, it is expected that unvaccinated players can play in games – as long as they have a negative COVID-19 test – but will not interact with people outside of their team’s travel group and cannot leave their hotel, except for training or games.

The Athletic first reported the news of the existence of the memo.

ESPN previously reported that the league last week informed teams in a memo that any staff under team control who work within 4.5 meters of players or referees during games will be fully against COVID for the coming season -19 must be vaccinated.

The policy specifically included coaches, front office members and coaches, but did not require all players to be vaccinated.

The league-wide vaccination of players is the subject of negotiations with the National Basketball Players Association.

The NBA has set a deadline for full vaccination of team staff on October 1, leaving open the possibility that a booster may be required at a later date. The mandate applies to all employees who work in the vicinity of the court, including broadcasters, scoreboard operators, photographers and security guards. All back-of-house operations are also required, including locker room staff, medical staff, equipment managers, and food and beverage retailers and suppliers.

Copyright © 2021 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.

The post Vaccine necessities particular to New York Metropolis and San Francisco might be enforced for groups in these cities, NBA memo says appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.