Town takes steps toward cyclist, pedestrian project
Corte Madera engineers are developing a plan to create a significant link in the bicycle and pedestrian network on the east side of town.
A workshop to solicit public input on the Paradise Drive “complete streets” project is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday via Zoom. Feedback will help the project team draw up design alternatives for the next meeting, tentatively set for spring, said Chris Good, a town civil engineer.
The project area is about 1,700 linear feet along Paradise Drive from Westward Drive to just east of Robin Drive. It is expected to include updated sidewalks, a shared use path, bike lanes or onstreet bicycle amenities, as well as flood control features to protect against sea level rise.
“The town’s long-term goal is provide multimodal access along the whole Paradise Drive corridor,” Good said.
The section of Paradise Drive has one vehicle lane in each direction and no provisions for pedestrians or bicycles, Good said. The road regularly floods during heavy storms.
Good said there are a lot of bicyclists who ride on Paradise Drive and families that access the Marin Country Day and Marin Montessori schools who would benefit from bike paths, sidewalks or some combination of multimodal improvements.
“It would be a step forward towards improving access and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians on Paradise Drive,” Good said.
However, there would still be a gap on Paradise Drive between Seawolf Passage to just east of Prince Royal Passage, he said. The town has already begun investigating closing that gap in a future project.
The town recently completed a $1 million sidewalk widening project to accommodate a new multiuse path on Paradise Drive from San Clemente Drive to Seawolf Passage. The path is integrated into the Bay Trails path network.
Another project roughly 10
years ago constructed a Class 1 path on the south side of Paradise from just east of Prince Royal Drive to Westward Drive, Good said.
At an initial workshop earlier this month, community members supported the idea of a continuous path on the north side of Paradise Drive. That would require the town to build a new path and shift the entire road south, Good said.
If that option ends up being the preferred design, it’s unclear what would happen
with the path on the south side of Paradise Drive between Prince Royal Drive and Westward Drive.
David Macpherson, vice chair of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee, said if the town owns the right of way and can add a multiuse path on the north side of Paradise Drive, that is the preferred option.
If not, he said, engineers would need to design a way for users to get safely from the new wide sidewalk on the north side of Paradise Drive at Seawolf Passage to the start of the southside path at Prince Royal Drive.
He believes this alternative would require a boardwalk crossing over a drainage
ditch.
Residents near Robin Drive “have effectively been on an island that is not accessible by pedestrians and bicycles,” Macpherson said.
“It is a high priority of the BPAC and the Town Council to remedy that lack of access,” he said.
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition supports the plan, said Warren Wells, policy and planning director for the organization.
Improvements will keep students traveling between eastern Corte Madera and the two schools from riding or walking on the narrow shoulder of the high-speed road, he said.
“While several options
are being considered, we believe that only a fully separated bike/walk path will make parents feel comfortable letting their children travel to school on their own,” Wells said. “A paintonly bike lane might improve the experience for some, but we and our members are advocating for an all-ages-and-abilities facility on this segment of Paradise Drive.”
Engineers will not do a project estimate until they have a clearer idea of what the options could be. The town has received a $244,000 grant to support the cost.
More information is at bit.ly/3nMyGHE.