Officials try to untangle commute on Hwy. 101 on Peninsula

Morning commute traffic is backed up in both directions of Highway 101 near Peninsula Avenue in San Mateo, Calif. on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Regional transit officials have gathered the necessary funding to begin work on a express lane project on the Bayshore Freeway through San Mateo County. less Morning commute traffic is backed up in both directions of Highway 101 near Peninsula Avenue in San Mateo, Calif. on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Regional transit officials have gathered the necessary funding to ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Officials try to untangle commute on Hwy. 101 on Peninsula 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Any way you drive it — north or south, morning or evening — the commute on Highway 101 on the Peninsula is barely tolerable and has been getting worse as the economy, especially the tech industry, gets better. Transit is little relief with Caltrain packed and BART extending only as far as Millbrae. Even the much-maligned commuter shuttle buses crawl through traffic.

But a shuffling of federal funds, once committed to a series of projects that are languishing, promises to speed the 101 commute by adding express lanes — carpool lanes that single drivers can also use for a price — through San Mateo County to the San Francisco city line. Caltrans still needs to approve the idea.

Regional transportation officials endorsed the $8.9 million funding shift Tuesday. That won’t be nearly enough to build the lanes, but it will get the project started by paying for the planning, engineering and required environmental studies.

“This is a key kick-start to a very important project,” said Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which voted to recommend the funds be redirected. “This is a way to get it going.”

Tech industry congestion

Highway 101, historically a vital link between San Francisco and San Jose, has become increasingly important — and congested — with the growth of the tech industry. In recent years, the expansion of corporate campuses for big-name tech companies like Google, Facebook and Apple on the Peninsula, and the desire of many of their employees to live in San Francisco, have changed commute patterns. What was once a heavy commute northbound in the morning and southbound in the evening now crowds lanes and trains in both directions during both peak periods.

The growth of tech has also led to an extensive, and controversial, network of corporate shuttle buses that haul thousands of employees on 101 to and from their Silicon Valley jobs. But with no carpool lanes north of Whipple Avenue in Redwood City, those buses get stuck in the same slow traffic.

As commuters know, Bay Area traffic congestion is bad all over, and that’s discouraging tech companies from expanding, according to the Bay Area Council, which is working to speed transportation improvements throughout the region.

The problem is particularly concerning on the Peninsula stretch of 101, said Michael Cunningham, senior vice president for policy at the council, a lobbying group for Bay Area businesses.

“This is the fiery, hot center of our burning economy that’s driving the Bay Area and supporting California’s economic health,” he said. “And congestion is getting worse there, faster than anywhere else.”

No data are available to show how much the 101 commute has worsened, but studies do show that, at least in the evening, it is the least predictable or consistent commute, meaning drivers are never quite sure how long it will take to get home.

Cunningham said the council has been working with transportation leaders to push for carpool or express lanes on 101 into San Francisco. Caltrans has agreed, he said, to begin engineering and design work for the 101 lanes as environmental studies are being done. That should cut the time to complete the work from as much as 10 years to as little as five.

The Bay Area Council challenged transportation leaders to open the 101 express lanes in less than five years, he said.

“And we think they can do that by using every tool they have,” he said. “Even that’s not nearly as fast as we’d like to see it done or as soon as the economy requires, but it’s enough to convince employers that transportation officials are expediting things.”

Millions of dollars needed

Rentschler said the big challenge is finding the money to build the lanes. State and federal funds for transportation projects are declining, which puts more pressure on Bay Area counties and the region to pay for its own improvements while hoping the state comes up with a transportation funding plan.

“That’s going to be the frustrating part,” he said. “But at least we’re getting started.”

Details of how and where the lanes will be built have yet to be determined, but they’ll reach roughly 21 miles in each direction from Whipple Road in Redwood City to the San Francisco city limits south of Candlestick Point.

Engineers will consider a variety of options, including converting an unrestricted lane into a carpool lane, a move that would be unpopular with single-occupant drivers. Or they might combine and connect a series of short lanes between on- and off-ramps and by building on shoulders.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan