Marin seeks public’s ideas on Highway 101 upgrades
Views will be part of study to modernize interchanges
Marin residents are being asked to weigh in on a plan to modernize the county’s aging Highway 101 interchanges — not just for cars but for transit service, bicyclists and pedestrians.
The Transportation Authority of Marin plans to use the feedback as part of a larger, multiyear study of 12 interchanges along the Highway 101 corridor from Sausalito to Novato. Some interchanges have gone largely unchanged since they were built in the 1950s.
“They just haven’t been substantially touched in many, many years,” TAM project manager Bill Whitney said.
The study will assess potential near- to long-term projects that local agencies and Caltrans could consider for both the highway interchanges and the local roads that lead to them. These include changing onramps and offramps, adding or enhancing bicycle lanes, widening sidewalks, tweaking streetlight timing on nearby streets to improve traffic flow, reconfiguring lanes and replacing some interchanges.
TAM is asking residents to fill out the survey at tam. ca.gov by the end of the day on April 16 to get a better sense of who is using the interchanges, why they use them and what changes they might want to see.
TAM had set aside $25 million to complete the studies over the next 30 years. The idea is to give local cities, towns and the county project studies that will make them more competitive to leverage state, federal and local grants needed to design and build the upgrades. Depending on the scope of the changes, some projects would move faster than others.
“They’ll advance at various stages,” Whitney said. “If we can identify a good project that would reduce congestion, improve safety, enhance access for all users, then we can help work with the city and county to identify those grant funds that could maybe accelerate it sooner.”
Some groups said the studies present an opportunity to modernize interchanges for other modes of travel not considered when they were built 60 to 70 years ago.
As Marin and the state work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the face of climate change, having safe routes for other modes of travel, including electrical and traditional bikes for local trips, will work to reduce road congestion while promoting more energy-efficient modes of travel, said Warren Wells of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.
“There are a whole lot of people who would ride a bike for short trips if they felt safe, but they don’t until we make the infrastructure work for them,” Wells said.
Some interchanges, such as Tamalpais Drive in Corte Madera, lack bike lanes altogether, let alone fully separated bike lanes that the coalition is advocating for, he said. Even with painted bike lanes, many people do not feel comfortable riding along a busy street or thoroughfare even if it’s just to grab something at the store, Wells said.
“They don’t offer any physical protections,” he said. “I, as a roadie, can ride over them. I don’t like to. But I wouldn’t take my sister who is six months pregnant or my 65-yearold mom over them.”
Some offramps have what are known as free right turns, in which cars
don’t have to come to a complete stop in right-turn lanes when merging on to a local road. Wells said such configurations make pedestrians and cyclists more prone to being hit.
A 2018 county study on travel safety found some interchanges or nearby roads had higher numbers of vehicle collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists between 2012 and 2016, such
as Third and Hetherton streets and Second and Irwin streets in San Rafael.
Four interchanges being studied are in San Rafael, including Second and Hetherton; North San Pedro and
Merrydale roads; Manuel T. Freitas Parkway and Civic Center Drive; and Lucas Valley and Smith Ranch roads.
San Rafael Public Works Director Bill Guerin said the city is working to find solutions for existing issues such as congestion on the Second Street interchange, which he said had been exacerbated by SMART running through downtown beginning in late 2019.
Guerin said he hopes the study could lead to a full replacement of the Lucas Valley/Smith Ranch Road underpass, which he said is narrow and prone to flooding. Other issues include merging on North San Pedro Road and the potential impacts of proposed housing development at Northgate mall, which could impact the Freitas Parkway interchange.
“TAM undertaking this study is going to support any grant applications going forward from them or from San Rafael,” Guerin said.