October 4, 2002

Fax: (415) 352-3606

Mr. Barbara Kaufman, Chair
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
50 California Street, Suite 2600
San Francisco, CA 94111

Re: Bicycle Access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

Dear Chair Kaufman and Commissioners:

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition appreciated the strong support that Commissioners showed for direct bicycle access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge at your September 19 meeting.

Our understanding is that BCDC "continued" this agenda item for a decision at your October 17 meeting so that the Commission could develop as strong a resolution as possible with regards to requesting that Caltrans provide direct bicycle access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

The MCBC encourages the Commission to adopt the resolution that was put forward by the Regional Bicycle Advocacy Coalition:

"The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission requests that the California Department of Transportation present to BCDC, by March 1, 2003, an implementation plan for providing direct bicycle access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. This implementation plan should include a bicycle lane on each deck of the bridge that would be installed within 120 days of the completion of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge seismic retrofit project (or by December 31, 2005, whichever date comes first), using buffering techniques such as striping, signage, botts dots, and/or pavement texturing. BCDC further recommends that, in the interest of cost-savings, Caltrans should make any minor modifications to their existing seismic retrofit work to meet the goal of bicycle access."

The request for an implementation plan for bicycle access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was included as a finding in BCDC permit number 1-97, which was granted for the seismic retrofit. Despite the fact that the permit specified that an implementation plan for bicycle access was due to BCDC on December 31, 1999, Caltrans has not yet fulfilled this permit finding. Two Caltrans studies have shown direct bicycle access to be feasible, reasonably safe, and inexpensive.

The MCBC looks forward to your October 17 meeting, and will be present, should you like to ask any questions. In addition, you can reach me by telephone at (415) 456-3469. Thank you again for your support for maximum feasible public access.

Yours truly,

Deb Hubsmith
Executive Director