Third St. overhaul design unveiled
San Rafael officials have unveiled a preliminary design for the planned renovation of Third Street, which includes wider sidewalks and a two-lane bike path along a section of Second Street.
The renovation project is set to take place along a portion of Third Street between Union and Second streets and along a section of Second Street between West and Shaver streets.
The city has hired CSW/StuberStroeh Engineering Group, Inc. to design the project and complete an environmental review, which is set to be finalized this winter. Construction on the project is expected to start in May and take about a year. The work is expected to cause traffic delays, according to city officials.
The design work is nearing completion, city officials said. A community “check-in” on the project is planned for this winter, said Robert Stevens, principal at CSW/Stuber- Stroeh Engineering Group.
The project calls for repaving the roadway, installing new traffic signals and creating curb bulbouts, which are “extensions into the roadway that promote pedestrian visibly and eased crossing of the street,” Stevens said. As a result, the roadway will be narrowed.
Installing a bike path is another major initiative for the project, according to Stevens.
“We know that there is a real big interest in improving bicycle access along Second Street,” Stevens told the City Council last month.
The preliminary design shows a two-way bike path along the south side of Second Street between West and East streets with a barrier between the path and the roadway. Thirteen parking spaces would be installed along the northern edge of the path.
“The challenge in this is that to get these parking stalls in here, we must narrow the medians, and in narrowing the medians, three trees would need to be removed,” Stevens said.
Project designers plan to plant 50 new trees along Second and Third streets, he added.
But some residents said they were concerned about the three trees that are slated for removal.
“These are London Plane and Ginkgo trees just reaching their