In an ironic twist, East Bay state Sen. Steve Glazer’s “no” vote on the governor’s mega-transportation tax may have paved the way for the biggest commuter line the Bay Area has seen since BART.

Here’s the story.

Gov. Jerry Bown and legislative leaders needed a two-thirds majority in both houses for the $52 billion tax and fee plan to pass.

Glazer’s refusal to go along with fellow Democrats meant that the governor needed to get a “yes” vote from a Republican. In this case, the Republican was Anthony Cannella of Ceres in Stanislaus County. Cannella asked Brown for $400 million to extend the 86-mile-long Altamont Commuter Express, or ACE, rail line, which runs from San Jose to Stockton, another 72 miles to Ceres and Merced in the Central Valley. And he got it.

Meanwhile, in October, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty and a group of Central Valley politicos got $2.2 million from the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission to get the ball rolling on extending BART to Livermore and hooking it up to the ACE line — a move designed to take traffic off Interstate 580.

“The 580 corridor is one of the most unhealthy in the region from an air quality and congestion standpoint,” Haggerty said. “Also, making a connection between BART and ACE allows people the opportunity to go from good-paying jobs in the Bay Area to more affordable housing in the Central Valley.”

And while some at BART are skeptical of the plan to connect the systems — and the huge cost that could entail — history shows that even the most ambitious and controversial transportation projects can take on a life of their own in the Bay Area, as evidenced by the state’s troubled high-speed rail project and San Francisco’s trainless Transbay Transit Center.

“So far what we are seeing is a little piece here, a little piece there — and there is the prospect of a bigger whole if they are all connected,” said MTC spokesman Randy Rentschler. “But that may not happen for some time.”

On the waterfront: With the Golden State Warriors booted down to Mission Bay, their original arena site at Piers 30-32 has landed something almost as massive: the 46,154-ton container ship Horizon Spirit.

The 900-foot-long cargo ship has been moored at the base of the Bay Bridge since before Christmas, marring the million-dollar bay views from the neighboring high-rise towers that have sprung up on the land side of the Embarcadero.

“In some ways, it would be preferable to have the Warriors arena ... versus a series of ugly freighters,” said neighbor James Pennington, whose complaints to City Hall have been met with dead silence.

Rafael Porras, who manages Red’s Java House, the burger-and-beer joint on the northwest corner of the piers, says the looming presence of the Horizon Spirit has been the most hotly debated topic since the election of Donald Trump.

Mostly, he said, customers just want to know: “Where is the view? And do we get a discount?”

San Francisco Port spokeswoman Renee Dunn Martin said the Horizon Spirit is part of a fleet owned by the Pasha Hawaii Shipping Line, the same outfit that in August signed a 15-year lease at Pier 80 for an auto import-export operation.

Under a separate deal, Pasha Hawaii was granted permission to park the Horizon Spirit at Piers 30-32 — until it was ready to put the vessel back into service.

“It is expected to leave April 19,” Dunn Martin said, “and by the time it leaves port we will have received around $100,000 in dockage fees.”

Martin said she’s not aware of plans to dock other freighters long term at the piers. But she quickly added that first and foremost, “we are a port, so we feel ships are welcome here.”

Odd man out: Democrats in the state Senate had one last piece of business before exiting the Capitol Thursday night — a special, behind-closed-doors meeting to beat up on fellow Sen. Steve Glazer of Orinda for not voting for the controversial road repair bills.

“They chewed his ass off,” said one person who was there.

Glazer had committed the unpardonable sin of breaking ranks and voting “no” on hiking both the state gas tax and the vehicle license fee to raise $5 billion a year to fix the state’s long-neglected roads and bridges.

Glazer, however, appeared unmoved and stood by his call for the package to include a ban on BART strikes, something the governor was unwilling to consider.

“I had a host of concerns, including the hundreds of millions that we are spending on high-speed rail,” Glazer said, adding that the calls and emails “coming into my office were running 2 to 1 against raising taxes.”

Glazer appears ready for whatever retribution may be in store for him when lawmakers return after spring break, be it a broom closet for an office or future bills being stalled in committee.

On the other hand, potholes in his district will still be fixed — and without him having to anger constituents by voting to raise their taxes.

And, in the end, that may not be a bad deal for Glazer.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross