All stakeholders must have say in highway project

Resolving serious traffic safety and congestion problems in San Rafael is not currently part of the Transportation Authority of Marin’s project to connect Highway 101 and Highway 580.

It’s intended to reduce the evening backup on 101 by rerouting Richmond-San Rafael Bridge traffic from Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Larkspur to a new connector ramp from northbound 101 to eastbound 580 in San Rafael.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t address longstanding problems including the daily backup of traffic from Bellam Boulevard onto 101 and 580. This is not only an inconvenience, but also a recipe for collisions.

Poor access for 15,000 people living in southeast San Rafael, including the Canal neighborhood, is a major public safety concern. The 101 and 580 freeways are a barrier for 25% of

San Rafael’s population. Neighborhoods and essential Marin County businesses would be cut off in a 100-year flood. The problem is further exacerbated by rising seas.

The solution is to prepare a 101-580 corridor plan now and secure the required environmental approvals. This would create “shovel ready” projects allowing final design and construction to proceed in phases as funding is identified.

The end game is to accelerate completion of needed improvements saving millions of dollars, decades and lives.

The typical process of piecemealing individual projects results in a series of lengthy schedules, high costs and inefficiencies.

This partially explains why it’s four times as expensive to deliver similar infrastructure projects in the U.S. as compared to the European Union, according to a recent Brookings Institute study.

A stakeholder-focused corridor plan would resolve problems that have been plaguing central Marin and the region for decades. It will also make sure a direct connector does no harm and is coordinated with future improvements.

Those who have the plans get the money. Accelerating the planning and environmental approval process may make the 101-580 corridor eligible for funding from the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure funding package.

Westbound 580 across the bridge and through San Rafael is already recognized as a regional transportation priority.

The Resilient Shore nonprofit project presented a possible solution. This would relocate all 580 southeast San Rafael access away from Bellam Boulevard to a new interchange halfway between 101 and the bridge. Existing 101-Bellam access would remain unchanged.

The idea is a “moonshot” to solve difficult problems. If it works, it would be a gamechanger for San Rafael and the region. It has the potential to eliminate the backup onto 101 and 580 and provide better access to southeast San Rafael and the services we all depend on.

TAM presented their preliminary connector alternatives in a San Rafael City Council study session Nov. 15. The City Council and community participants provided input to TAM on the various ramp alternatives including recommendations for elimination of those perceived as being too costly and having significant negative environmental impacts.

San Rafael’s guiding principles for the project were also presented to aid in selection of the preferred alternatives.

Southeast San Rafael residents continue to express concerns about emergency access to their neighborhoods and daily traffic congestion at Bellam. They want to be included in future discussions as stakeholders. District 1 Councilmember Maika Llorens Gulati has requested current traffic count information and justification why Larkspur alternatives are not under consideration.

It was gratifying to hear Councilmember Eli Hill’s recommendation and TAM’s decision to prepare a proof of concept for the southeast San Rafael Interchange proposal.

Having a transportation agency give fair consideration of a grassroots proposal is unusual. It shows open mindedness and a desire to solve tough problems. Since TAM is early in the planning process, a proof of concept for this new interchange will be inexpensive and well timed.

Let’s embrace this rare opportunity to coordinate planning of our freeways and local roadways with a southeast San Rafael-Canal plan, as well as a shore and watershed adaptation plan. These are proposed in San Rafael’s 2040 general plan.

Let’s do the right thing and do the forward planning first. The direct connector can be built as the first phase as promised to the voters.