Bike path through Marin is on track
Plans for key connector construction helps North Bay plan
A new pathway in Marin County that would provide cyclists, walkers and runners easier access to one of the North Bay’s transportation and trail hubs is set to begin construction next year after five years of planning.
The planned 12-foot-wide pathway would replace the existing cramped 4-foot-wide sidewalk that runs along Highway 101 and crosses over Corte Madera Creek to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Larkspur.
Project planners and advocates say the new wider path will be a key addition to both the San Francisco Bay Trail and the long- envisioned North- South Greenway path designed to run from the Golden Gate Bridge into Sonoma County and potentially beyond.
“At the completion of this important regionally significant non-motored facility, we will have a separate and safe facility connecting the bridge over Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, the CalPark Tunnel and the new path in San Rafael up to Second Street,” said Transportation Authority of Marin project manager Bill Whitney. “All of them have been major efforts to continue to close the gaps in theNorth-South Greenway.”
State construction funds that are expected to be allocated this month would allow the buildout to begin in early 2021 with the path expected to be opened inmid-2022, project leaders said. Pathway closures during construction would be limited to nighttime hours, Whitney said.
The existing path, originally built in 1961 and retrofitted in 1995, is too narrow to accommodate the hundreds of people who use it daily, resulting in them having to awkwardly shuffle by one another similar to heading for the aisle at a baseball game or a movie theater, advocates say.
“There are very few places in Marin that underscore previous generations of planners’ and engineers’ complete neglect for the walking and biking infrastructure like this one,” said Bjorn Griepenburg, policy and planning director for the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. “To force people on foot and bikes to share this 4-foot-wide sidewalk in what is a very busy location has been very inadequate and unacceptable.”
Used by about 750 people each day, the existing quarter-mile pathway runs alongside the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard offramp on northbound Highway 101. The pathway connects to the nearby ferry, bus and SMART train stations as well as a network of trails in Corte Madera, the Ross Valley and a planned connection to the East Bay via the new Richmond-San Rafael Bridge pedestrian path.
The project, known as the North-South Greenway Northern Segment, is being led by Caltrans and the Transportation Authority of Marin.
While only a quarter-mile long, the new pathway will cost about $18 million and took more than five years to plan, according to TAM. Much of this planning time and cost is because the path crosses over Corte Madera Creek and required extensive environmental review and permitting, Whitney said. Planners had originally envisioned opening the new path in 2018.
“The natural environment and constrained conditions have made this a challenging process,” Whitney said. “We have spent $4.5 million in this project development phase.”
TAMestimates that $13.5 million will be needed for construction, with key votes taking place this month to close a nearly $2.5 million funding gap.
The California Transportation Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to allocate $1.5 million in gas tax dollars for the project.
heMetropolitan Transportation Commission, which administers state and federal transportation dollars in the nine- county Bay Area, is set to vote on a $1.1 million allocation for the project on Oct. 28. The commission had previously provided $10.6 million in bridge toll revenues for the construction phase.
About $1.2 million in federal funding will be used to extend the wider path southward from the offramp path along Old Redwood Highway to the Greenbrae pedestrian bridge. This will give users a continuous straight pathway along the entire quarter-mile stretch, Whitney said.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has also allocated a $283,000 grant for the project.
Caltrans has selected the Burlingame-based Disney Construction as the contractor.
The northern segment is one of two projects being eyed at this location. TAM and other project partners are in the early phases of exploring a nearly halfmile bike and walking trail to the east of Old Redwood Highway that would run along the marshes and eventually connect to the northern segment path.
That project, known as the southern segment, still needs to undergo further planning, environmental review and would need to secure a private easement.
“We’ll continue to look for ways to close the gap,” TAM Executive Director Anne Richman said.
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition has been tracking the progress of the North- South Greenway path, which was originally envisioned in the 1975 Marin County Bicycle Plan to run along the length of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad corridor. InMarin County, about 11 miles have been completed so far with 12 miles left to go, according to the coalition. About 7 miles of path exists as onstreet connections, according to the coalition.
Much of the pathway gaps exist along the SonomaMarin Area Rail Transit district’s right of way including a nearly 7-mile stretch between San Rafael and Novato.
Significant progress has been made in the past decade, Griepenburg said, with the completion of the CalPark Hill Tunnel in 2010 and the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard pedestrian bridge in 2016. The city of SanRafael is also set to complete a $2.5 million bike path from Rice Street to Second Street by the end of November, which will complete a continuous 1.6mile path fromSan Rafael’s transit center to the Larkspur ferry terminal.
“Really in the last 10 years now we have completed a car-free route from the top of the hill in Terra Linda all the way down to Corte Madera,” Griepenburg said.
Information about the project can be found at bit. ly/2ToROeF.
North- South Greenway map