OAKLAND -- Already embroiled in controversy over construction of a new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, Caltrans officials have unveiled another major project Bay Area project that faces a number of challenges -- building a fourth bore to the Caldecott Tunnel to relieve traffic stress on Highway 24.

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Video On Demand: Jesse Gary Reports On CalTrans Plan For Fourth Caldecott Tunnel

The tunnel project will be a joint effort by Caltrans and Contra Costa and Alameda counties. A majoritry of the funds to pay for it will be generated by increased county sales taxes. But at its announcement, Caltrans head Will Kempton could not escape the controversy generated by the nearby Bay Bridge fiasco.

"I'm not gonna talk about the Bay Bridge today because I want to emphasize what I view as a historic transportation agreement," Kempton told reporters.

Kempton said he hoped the Caldecott project was the dawn of a new era for Caltrans.

"We're trying to take the Department of Transportation from a transportation bureaucracy to a mobility company," Kempton said. "So we're gonna be operating in a more businesslike fashion and these kinds of partnerships are just the kind of mechanisms that are gonna help us succeed."

Contra Costa County transportation official Amy Worth cited the success of the on-time and on-budget widening of Highway 4 as an example of a county-state partnership where county money kept Caltrans from calling all the shots or the state diverting funds.

"Each of the three parties are equal partners at the table," she said. "So we come with funds...This does represent the new way of doing business in the transportation construction industry."

The project was projected to cost $250 million to $500 million -- the money to be spent on a huge and powerful ventilation system, like the ones in the other bores, lighting, fire suppression and security survelliance equipment throughout.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2009 and be completed in 2012.

Daily commuters like Dennis Yniguez hope the plan will go on without a hitch.

"I hope it's well thought out and there's a good chance for the public to participate in it," he said.