Overhaul of sidewalk to impact Canal traffic
San Rafael is planning to start widening a busy sidewalk along Francisco Boulevard East this year in the final phase of a yearslong effort to improve pedestrian access for Canal neighborhood residents.
The boulevard serves as “the primary corridor for residents living in the Canal neighborhood, the most densely populated area in Marin County, to access the San Rafael Transit Center, SMART train station, Montecito Plaza and San Rafael High School,” a city report says.
The $5.8 million project calls for widening the narrow sidewalk to 8 feet along a three-quarter-mile stretch between Vivian Street and Grand Avenue.
The project builds on work completed in 2010 by the state Department of Transportation. The department widened the sidewalk along Francisco Boulevard East between Vivian Street and Bellam Boulevard.
The sidewalk will also connect with a new bicycle-and-pedestrian bridge over the San Rafael Canal. The city completed the $3.47 million bridge project last year after more than a decade of planning.
The sidewalk project will complete the network, providing a safer route for pedestrians and cyclists, officials said.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” said Councilman Andrew McCullough. “It’s a very important connector between important areas within our community.”
The city is soliciting construction bids until the end of March and plans to have the work going in June. The construction is ex
pected to take 12 months.
The project will cause traffic delays, said Hunter Young, a city engineer.
“The frontage road of Francisco East is not extremely wide,” Young said. “It’s utilized by a lot of heavy
traffic, buses and vehicles that are going to and from schools and downtown. It’s going to be disruptive.”
The work between Grand Avenue and Harbor Street will take place at night, between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., because there is no parallel alternative route for cars, officials said.
Work will take place during the day between Harbor
Street and Vivian Way. Northbound traffic will be rerouted onto Medway Road, Front Street and Harbor Street before rejoining Francisco Boulevard East.
The city plans to install new street lights, storm drains, signs and trees along the project area. It also plans to repave Francisco Boulevard East when the sidewalk project is complete,
officials said.
San Rafael was awarded $6.13 million in federal grants for the project, which does not include the road paving. The detours, night construction and infrastructure replacement work have added to the estimated construction cost, according to the city’s public works director, Bill Guerin.