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Earthquake fears outweighed anti-tax sentiments as voters narrowly approved funds to make major seismic improvements to the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Voters approved $980 million in new property taxes that will improve the resiliency of BART's transbay tube and original elevated tracks and platforms in a major earthquake.

The electric commuter rail system is near the San Andreas fault, and straddles the Hayward fault, in a region geologists predict has a 62 percent chance of suffering a major 6.7 earthquake by 2032.

Preliminary work on the transbay tube has already begun and officials expect major work to commence next year. While built to the highest seismic standards at the time, engineers have learned a great deal more about structures, soils and shaking in the 30 years since the system opened.

A total of $1.3 billion is believed needed for the work, with the balance made up by funds from Regional Measure 2, approved in March 2004, and from other sources.

Strengthening the transbay tube will cost about $187 million. The loose debris around the steel tunnel, which was sunk, welded and buried, will be compacted, reducing the risk of liquefaction. The installation of piles, crossbeams and micropiles will help anchor the transbay tube in place and greatly reduce the risk of failure.

The vast majority of funding will go to help shore up columns supporting miles of BART's elevated railway that broke ground in the mid-1960s. Work on the elevated structures is expected to resemble freeway retrofit work.

To win, the measure needed more than two-thirds of the vote in the three original BART counties combined.

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