Q With the coming change in presidents, do you think that might affect funding from the feds for BART through San Jose to Santa Clara?

Mark

San Jose

A The election results have BART backers nervous about the downtown extension, but it’s too early to tell. They are banking on at least $1.5 billion in federal aid to help pay for the $4.7 billion cost of the next phase and have done just about everything they can do — the new sales tax on top of the 2008 measure to cover operating costs. And the state has promised millions more to help close the gap.

What will President-elect Donald Trump do? He pledged support for infrastructure investment, but he has not presented a plan for how he would raise the $1 trillion needed nationwide.

Q I have mixed feelings about Measure B. On one hand it gives the Valley Transportation Authority a huge boost for transit, bike and pedestrian improvements. On the other hand a lot of it will be spent on highway capacity expansions, which I don’t like.

Mark

A The 30-year, half-cent sales tax approved by a whopping 71 percent of Santa Clara County voters on Tuesday would generate $6.3 billion over the next three decades. Of that, $3.25 billion is earmarked for transit, bicyclists and pedestrians. Another $3 billion-plus would go to pavement repairs, interchange upgrades, expressway fixes and the potential widening of Highway 85.

This may be the most balanced transportation tax of the six we’ve voted on over the last 40 years. It addresses needs for Caltrain, where ridership is soaring, as well as filling those nasty potholes.

Q I’m also curious about how the maintenance funds from Measure B will be distributed. From what I know, it will be based on the size of each city, so San Jose will get the lion’s share. How is that money going to be divided up?

Mark

A San Jose would get $580 million, the expressways $172 million, Sunnyvale $84 million and Santa Clara $69 million. The others are in line for the rest of the $1.2 billion pot.

Q I sure hope Measure B solves some of the transportation problems, but it needs to do it with the future in mind. Things that actually work — such as grade separations and mass transit — are important. Fixing the roads and problem intersections of major highways is another big issue it needs to take care of.

Paul Houston

A A half-dozen overpasses and/or underpasses will be built on the Santa Clara County segment of Caltrain and an additional three along Lawrence Expressway. That’s a good start.

Q Thanks for the information about a fourth lane on Interstate 280 at Magdalena Avenue not being on the wish list for the new tax. Given the hours people are stuck in traffic there each day, can they say why?

Rajiv Bhateja

Los Altos Hills

A Except for Highway 85, no freeway widening is part of this plan. The 1984 and 1996 measures went almost all to roads, while the 2000 tax was all transit.

When the Valley Transportation Authority asked agencies how much it would cost to fix their most pressing needs, the figure was $50 billion. But the tax will raise only $6 billion-plus. So a lot of projects were chopped.

Follow Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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