New Highway 4 roadway, seen here at Loveridge, will be coming to Somersville.

Caltrans announced today that work has begun on the next phase of the State Route 4 Widening Project in Contra Costa County.

Phase Two, which is scheduled to be completed in 2013, will widen SR-4 to eight lanes (three regular traffic lanes and one bus/carpool lane in each direction) from the Somersville Road interchange to the Contra Loma Boulevard interchange. Auxiliary lanes will be added to the on and off-ramps at both interchanges.

In addition, the Somersville Road interchange will be widened and reconstructed with a median wide enough to accommodate mass transit, providing BART a viable location to expand rail service to eastern Contra Costa County.

“Caltrans is excited that the next phase of this critical congestion relief project is progressing,” said Caltrans Director Cindy McKim. “The people of Contra Costa County can clearly see that their taxpayer dollars are being put to work to benefit this region.”

This is the second of five planned construction projects to widen SR-4, its interchanges, and local roadways from west of Loveridge Road to the State Route 160 interchange. The total cost for the entire project is $585 million, including $100 million from Proposition 1B.

“Caltrans is committed to improving mobility throughout California,” stated Caltrans District 4 Director Bijan Sartipi. “This commitment includes partnering with our local congestion management agencies and transit agencies to provide congestion relief. Together, we will provide new transportation options for east Contra Costa County commuters.”

“This project serves as a strong validation for Contra Costa County voters, who passed Measure J in 2004 to pay for transportation improvements along the State Route 4 corridor, as well as other key transportation projects in the county,” stated David Durant, CCTA Chair. “This local revenue source has made all the difference in our ability to move this project along on schedule and to get going on the next phase, which will take us from Contra Loma Blvd. to ‘G’ Street.”

The $76 million project received $6 million from Proposition 1B, a 2006 voter-approved transportation bond. The project is a joint venture between Caltrans, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). To date, the state has allocated nearly $8 billion in Proposition 1B funds for transportation purposes statewide.

The prime contractor for the project is R & L Brosamer, Inc. of Walnut Creek. For current information, call the project Hotline at (925) 756-0721 or go to the website at http://widensr4.org.

WHAT: Groundbreaking ceremony for the next phase of the State Route 4 widening through Pittsburg and Antioch in the area of the Somersville Road interchange. Construction on the project began in March. The prime contractor for the project is R&L Brosamer.

WHEN: Friday, April 8, 2011, at 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: Southwest corner of the State Route 4 Somersville Road Interchange, next to the Denny’s restaurant at 2006 Somersville Road, Antioch Ca.

SPEAKERS: John Garamendi, Representative, 10th Congressional District; Mark DeSaulnier, Senator, California Senate 7th District; Cindy McKim, Director, California Department of Transportation; Randell Iwasaki, Executive Director, Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA); Federal Glover, Supervisor, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors; James Davis, Mayor, City of Antioch; David Durant, Board Chair, CCTA; Joel Keller, District 2 Director, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).

INVITED: Susan Bonilla, Assemblywoman, California 11th District Mary Piepho, Supervisor, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors

WHY: This is the second of five projects planned for the corridor that will widen the freeway from two lanes to three mixed flow lanes and one HOV lane in each direction. The project will also widen the median to accommodate the eBART extension to Antioch.

Antioch Little League Vice President Dennis Felix, with scissors, is joined in cutting the ribbon on the refurbished ball field by representatives of those who helped with the effort, including Former 49er Brent Jones of TLC for Kids Sports, KNBR Morning Show Host Brian Murphy, O.C. Jones, Antioch Sports Legends, Delta Antioch Rotary, as well as 2008 Olympic Softball Silver Medalist Vicky Galindo and Congressman Garamendi's office.

More information will be posted later.

Eleanor Bonner, Operations Manager for Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa, speaks to the Antioch Rotary Club, last month.

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Representatives of Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa recently spoke to a regular weekly meeting of the Antioch Rotary Club.

Formed as a nonprofit in 1983, the Concord-based Loaves and Fishes is a network of volunteers which has expanded to one kitchen, five serving sites, including one in Antioch at the American Legion Hall on 6^th Street, and supplying food to three other distribution locations. 

The meals are designed to fill the nutrional needs of people for whom it may be their only meal of the day. They receive food donations from their partners: Costco, Lucky, Safeway, Trader Joe’s, Lunardi’s, Aidells, The Cheesecake Factory and the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.

Operations Manager Eleanor Bonner and Development Director Joleen Lafayette shared the growing statistics with the Rotarians.

In the 27 years feeding the hungry in Contra Costa County, Loaves and Fishes has served over 3.5 million meals. Currently they serve 10,000 hot meals each month.

graphic courtesy of Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa

They are open every week day except for July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

For more information or to donate funds or food or to volunteer, visit www.loavesfishescc.org.

Joleen Lafayette, Development Director for Loaves and Fishes, shares statistics and how people can support the organization.

For more information about the Antioch Rotary Club, which has been serving Antioch and the world since 1947, visit www.AntiochRotaryClub.org.

Fresh Choice, Muscle Maker Grill Offer Alternatives to Traditional and Fast Food Fare

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Antioch residents have the opportunity to eat healthier restaurant meals with the addition of two new restaurants that have or are opening this month. Both Fresh Choice and Muscle Maker Grill, located in the Golf Course Plaza Shopping Center at the corner of Lone Tree Way and Golf Course Road, have added Antioch to their list of locations.

Representatives of the Antioch Chamber of Commerce, with restaurant owner Sandy Boyd and employees, Mayor Jim Davis and Councilman Gary Agopian, cut the ribbon officially opening the Fresh Choice location in Antioch.

FRESH CHOICE

After much anticipation, Fresh Choice is finally open in Antioch. Owner Sandy Boyd, as well as Mayor Jim Davis, were on hand for the ribbon cutting by the Antioch Chamber of Commerce, on Friday, March 25. Boyd treated those in attendance to a free meal (including this writer – and it was all good), which included samples of their rotisserie chicken. Mmmm!

“This is the most warm welcome we’ve ever received from a community,” Boyd said.

They have their own farm and offer local, organic meals, with, as their website says, “enough options to satisfy the whole family. On average over 70% of their produce of over 30 varieties of fruits and vegetables is locally grown by over 20 local farmers, in addition to their own farm.

The restaurant features salads, soups, make-your-own dish pasta bar, bakery bar, pizza bar and a variety of desserts.

To learn more about Fresh Choice, visit their website by clicking here.

From left to right) Tony Shoman, Arthur G. Gunther, President of Muscle Maker Grill, Zee Dames and Sam Shaer in front of the new Muscle Maker Grill location in Antioch, set to open next week.

MUSCLE MAKER GRILL

Muscle Maker Grill®, a chain of casual eateries that serves freshly prepared meals with your health in mind, announces it is expanding its reach to the West by securing a multi-unit franchise deal to develop five Muscle Maker Grill restaurants in the East Bay Area of California. This new agreement marks the chain’s first franchise deal in the Golden State and is a significant step towards the company’s national expansion plans. The first Muscle Maker Grill location in California is expected to open in Antioch in next week.

“We are excited to bring Muscle Maker Grill to California and are pleased to welcome our new franchise owners to our committed team,” said Rod Silva, founder of Muscle Maker Grill. “We are always looking to attract potential franchise partners with relevant experience who believe in our brand.”

Recently ranked as the fastest growing restaurant concept in the United States by Restaurant Chain magazine, Muscle Maker Grill currently has 30 restaurants open in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida. New franchise owners Tony Shoman and Sam Shaer of Brentwood, and Zee Dames of Oakland decided to expand Muscle Maker Grill into their home state because they recognized the void in healthy restaurant franchise concepts in the area.

“California is a very active market and its residents are health-conscious, but it’s difficult to find fast dining options that fit into this lifestyle,” said Shoman, who is a restaurant industry veteran. “I ate at Muscle Maker Grill when I visited New Jersey and instantly knew its concept would be well-received in California.”

At Muscle Maker Grill, everything is prepared on premises with a menu that features lean, protein-based dishes, including chicken, seafood, pasta, burgers, wraps and entrée salads. It also offers a wide selection of protein shakes and supplements in an assortment of flavors, such as Tropical Paradise and Snappy Apple.

The atmosphere at Muscle Maker Grill is friendly, relaxed and casual. Each restaurant features an abundance of seating as well as TVs that provide a variety of entertainment programs. Muscle Maker Grill also offers take-out and delivery services.

Muscle Maker Grill was founded in 1995 by Silva with the goal of offering people a nutritious alternative to fast-food restaurants. A fitness enthusiast since he was 18, Silva recognized a void in the marketplace for tasty, healthy meal options. Silva’s vision has helped make Muscle Maker Grill one of the fastest-growing restaurant franchises in the country.

Funds Will Be Planned for 30 Years of Transportation Projects

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) will be hosting a variety of public meetings throughout the county in April, seeking public input for projects to be submitted for the 2013 Regional Transportation Plan. Projects included in the plan will be eligible to receive regional, state and federal funds over the next 30 years.

The East County meeting will be held on Thursday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. during the regular monthly Transplan meeting, in the Tri Delta Transit Board Room, 901 Wilbur Avenue in Antioch.

The full Authority Board will also hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, April 20 at 6:00 p.m. at the CCTA offices, 2999 Oak Street, Suite 100, in Walnut Creek.

Please see the announcement above for other meetings and locations. For more information visit www.onebayarea.org,  email info@ccta.net or call (925) 256-4720.

Below is the information from the CCTA’s website.

2013 Regional Transportation Plan

The San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is currently developing the 2013 update to its Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). This plan is being jointly developed by MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The 2013 RTP Update is a “first” in that it incorporates a new Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) element to the RTP, as required under Senate Bill 375.

The SCS will be developed in partnership among regional agencies, local jurisdictions, and Congestion Management Agencies (CMAs) through an iterative process.  The land use pattern of the SCS, when integrated with the transportation system, should reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and light trucks as measured against regional targets established by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

For current information on the 2013 RTP Update and the SCS, including meeting schedules, agendas, and recent publications, go to www.OneBayArea.org.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)  has approved a $10 million anchor commitment through its Transportation for Livable Communities program to establish a new $50 million revolving loan fund for affordable housing developers to finance land acquisition in select locations near rail and bus lines throughout the Bay Area.

Other investors in the Bay Area Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund include Morgan Stanley and Citi Community Capital, each of which provided $12.5 million; The Ford Foundation and Living Cities, a collaborative of foundations and financial institutions, which invested $3 million each; six community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which combined to contribute $8.5 million; and the San Francisco Foundation, which provided $500,000 plus the 2007 seed funding to develop the fund’s business plan.

San Francisco-based Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) will serve as the manager of the Bay Area Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund. Loans will be originated by the six participating CDFIs, which include LIIF, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), the Northern California Community Loan Fund and Opportunity Fund. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation provided a $100,000 grant to support the Bay Area Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund.

Brigitt Jandreau-Smith, Chief Lending Officer for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, said, “CSH is proud to be an originator for the Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Loan Fund. We are dedicated to finding innovative ways to foster the development of supportive housing, and this fund will jumpstart communities’ ability to create projects in transit-rich locations where they can serve the most vulnerable Californians.”

MTC staff estimates developers can use the Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund to help finance the acquisition of at least 20 to 30 acres around the region, which will support development of 1,100 to 3,800 units of affordable housing, depending on the density of construction. LIIF expects to close the first deal for the new fund later this spring, with a $4.8 million loan to Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. (TNDC) to finance the acquisition of a roughly 22,000 s.f. parking lot at the corner of Eddy and Taylor Streets in San Francisco on which the firm plans to build a 14-story, 150-unit complex expected to include affordable family apartments as well as ground floor retail space to which TNDC hopes to attract the Tenderloin’s first full-service grocery store. The project has received significant support from the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing.

“MTC is a grant-making agency, and the funds we allocate typically get spent only once,” commented MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger. “This new affordable housing fund not only gives us four-to-one leverage with private capital, but allows our initial investment to be spent over and over again in the form of new loans.”

“We’re filling a critical void in the affordable housing finance market by making it possible for developers to do what they call ‘land banking,’” explained MTC Chair and San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier. “Once developers start tapping the fund to secure sites, they will still need to go through local approvals processes and to line up construction financing. So it may be years rather than months before the new housing units are brought on line.”

All loans made through the Bay Area Affordable Transit Oriented Housing Fund will be for projects located in neighborhoods designated by MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) as a Priority Development Area. The fund, which will operate for at least 10 years, is modeled on similar funds established in recent years in Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans and New York, which in aggregate total more than $350 million and have been used to leverage hundreds of millions of additional dollars from commercial lenders, investment funds, foundations and public agencies to support affordable housing development.

MTC will make its initial $5 million contribution to the Bay Area Affordable Transit Oriented Housing Fund once its funding agreement with LIIF is signed. This is expected to happen within the next month. MTC’s second and final $5 million contribution is slated for July 2011.

“Equitable transit-oriented development is one of LIIF’s key strategies to help low-income families lift themselves out of poverty,” said LIIF President and CEO Nancy O. Andrews. “We are thrilled to be working on the Bay Area Affordable Transit Oriented Housing Fund with MTC and all the other fund partners. And we cannot think of a better project for the fund’s first loan than the Eddy & Taylor Family Housing, which will bring much-needed housing and retail to this community.”

“We are honored to celebrate the launch of this fund,” said Dr. Sandra Hernández, M.D., CEO of The San Francisco Foundation, the community foundation of the Bay Area. “This fund will strengthen our entire region by creating more walkable and bikable neighborhoods with work, fresh food markets, and public transportation, close to home. Quality living without cars. The San Francisco Foundation is proud to be a part of the Great Communities Collaborative, and the joint vision to create affordable, healthy communities.”

Lori Chatman, president of the Enterprise Community Loan Fund, another of the participating CDFIs, declared, “Enterprise is thrilled to be a part of this fund because it will place much-needed housing and services near transit. Ultimately, people will have greater access to jobs and enjoy health and environmental benefits, all because they’re able to live on transit lines and in a home they can afford.”

Stephanie Forbes, Executive Director of Bay Area LISC, said, “If the Bay Area is to grow smart, making existing neighborhoods more sustainable means creating a place with more housing choices, more businesses, more fresh produce and services that support the very diverse population of residents, visitors and commuters in ways that complement the existing neighborhood fabric.　Bay Area LISC is thrilled to join with MTC and our nonprofit lender colleagues to provide community developers with a flexible tool to support the neighborhood infrastructure in the region’s diverse communities.”

MTC is the transportation planning, funding and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. MTC created the Transportation for Livable Communities program in 1998 to fund small-scale, community and transit-oriented projects that improve neighborhood vitality.

Graffiti is not Art – Graffiti is a Crime

3/18/11 – from the Antioch Police Department

Graffiti is a crime and often symptomatic of other social problems. Graffiti often leads to a feeling of reduced safety and pride in the community, which in turn leads to further crime. For many communities combating graffiti is a problematic and costly issue. The Police Department alone cannot solve the graffiti problem. Graffiti is a community issue and the Police Department is just one part of the solution.

The community at large and more specifically, caring neighbors and members of neighborhood watch groups have assumed a more significant role in getting involved in reporting the acts of vandalism they witness.

Just today, another caring and observant resident witnessed an act of vandalism at the Dallas Ranch Park which is located on Prewett Ranch Drive. The resident reported the incident to police and made the officers’ jobs much easier by providing good descriptions of the suspects, their actions and associated vehicles.

Without the assistance of this observant and caring citizen this would have been another costly graffiti crime that would have gone unsolved. Consequently, officers were able to arrest four suspects for felony vandalism. The suspects ranged in age from 15 to 21 years old.

It might sound like a broken record, but it rings so true. By becoming the eyes and ears for the police department, caring citizens are instrumental in helping us solve crime. Citizens who care and take the time to get involved multiply the resources of the police department, and this helps reduce the incidence of crime and improves the quality of life for all. Compliments to all who care enough to help us make Antioch a safer community!