Issues and Advocacy
in Marin Cities and Towns
April 2007 Update

Every spring, MCBC reports on what’s been happening with bicycle infrastructure in each of Marin’s 11 incorporated towns and cities. We’re continually collaborating with public works directors to expand the network of bike lanes, pathways, bike parking and access to public transit. MCBC and the public have an additional opportunity to provide recommendations on improvements to each jurisdiction’s bicycle infrastructure when the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan update takes place in each community. In addition, the County of Marin will soon make final decisions on projects to fund with the $25 million from the Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Program. However, as of this article’s publishing, those final decisions have not yet been made, so there will be more good news in future articles.

To get involved, or for more information about bicycle projects in your city or town, please contact David Hoffman, Director of Planning, at 415-456-3469 ext. 4# or david@marinbike.org. The latest activities for each community are summarized below.

Read the April 2008 Update
Read the April 2006 Update
Read the April 2005 Update

Belvedere

Belvedere is one of two cities in the county without a bicycle plan, the other being Ross. That may change, however; we now have a cycling enthusiast, Tom Cromwell, on the city council and MCBC has asked the City Manager to allow us to talk to the council about the benefits of formally incorporating multi-modal transportation into the fabric of the community.

Corte Madera

MCBC congratulates Corte Madera Public Works Director Dave Bracken, who has been named as the new City Manager. We know he’ll pay close attention to bicycle-related issues as he’s done great things in the past, such as striping bike lanes on San Clemente Drive. Corte Madera tried to get funding for a Tiburon-Corte Madera connector along Paradise Drive, but was turned down; without that they only have money for maintenance of existing bike facilities, says Senior Engineer Tony Gokoffski. Looking to the future, Gokoffski is seeking funding for a bike trail on Apache Road connecting Redwood High School and Corte Madera. He would also like to improve conditions for cyclists on Camino Alto over Christmas Tree Hill.

Fairfax

Many positive changes have taken place in the Town of Fairfax in the past year. Mayor Larry Bragman started the “Feet First” campaign to build support for more bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and Caltrans Safe Routes to Schools funding is building a bridge and sidewalks near Manor School; the project retained the popular bike lanes on Sir Francis Drake.

Creek Bridge was reopened to bicycle and pedestrian traffic, new bike racks were installed downtown, and Bicycle Route 20 signs have been posted.

The Center Boulevard Project is scheduled to get underway later this spring, and will include bike lanes on either side of the road, wider sidewalks, deletion of the right-turn lane for westbound traffic at Pacheco, and improvements to the intersection of Center and Landsdale.

Larkspur

Larkspur Public Works Director Hamid Shamsapour, who received MCBC’s Bicycle Facilities Champion award at our 2004 Big Bike Bash, continues to make much-needed improvements to the city’s streets. Bike route, direction and Bay Trail signs have been installed.

A new crosswalk, signing and striping have been completed on Doherty Drive at Hall Middle School, the Class I pathway parallel to Magnolia is being extended 300 feet to Doherty Drive, and construction should start this year on replacing the bridge under Highway 101 over Corte Madera Creek leading to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. The Bridge will get new composite decking and railing. During construction, cyclists will be detoured around the overpasses.

Work on the Cal Park Tunnel, connecting the Larkspur Landing shopping center with downtown San Rafael, should start late this year or early in 2008. When completed, this main link in the bicycle network will radically change the possibilities for traffic-separated bicycling in Marin.

Mill Valley

MCBC thanks Mill Valley Public Works Director Wayne Bush and his staff for meeting with us in February to go over bicycle-related issues. MCBC is recommending that bicycle facilities be added to Miller Avenue as part of the Miller Avenue Precise Plan, and we testified at a council hearing on the city’s effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions, encouraging a greater emphasis on bicycling as a sure way to curb pollution.

Novato

Thanks go to BPAC Chairman Mark Birnbaum and all the members of the Novato Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee who have worked to bring their Bicycle Plan Update recommendations to the City Council. BPAC members voted unanimously to ask that the City Council adopt a Complete Streets Ordinance proposed by MCBC. The ordinance would require the city to include bike and pedestrian facilities whenever a street is built or repaved unless they can show that any one of four exceptions exist: if the cost of including non-motorized transportation exceeds 20% of the total project cost; if bikes are prohibited by law; if there is no current or future need; or if environmental concerns preclude the inclusion. Class II Lanes have been installed on Diablo, between Novato Boulevard and Center, thanks to Public Works Director Glenn Young.

Ross

MCBC Board Member Tom Woolley is excited about the prospect of finding a safe and efficient way to move the many weekend cyclists through town on something other than a shoulder-less Shady Lane. The issue will undoubtedly be brought up as the town goes through the process of developing its first Bicycle Master Plan later this year.

San Anselmo

The town recently formed a Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and appointed members who will give recommendations on the upcoming Bicycle Master Plan Update. MCBC is proposing that San Anselmo cooperate with Fairfax and San Rafael in developing a preferred bicycle and pedestrian route from Fairfax to the Bettini Transit Center in San Rafael.

San Rafael

San Rafael Public Works Director Andy Preston met several times over the past year with MCBC staff to go over bicycle-related issues, as did BPAC chairman Preston McCoy and BPAC Vice Chairman and MCBC Board Member Don Magdanz.

San Rafael recently sent out for bids on $165,000 in bicycle-related signing and striping of streets within the city limits, and Kerner Boulevard in the Canal Area saw bike lanes added through Marin’s first “road diet.”

The 4th Street West End Project has been through a big year-long planning process. “Sharrows” (street sharing logos) will be stenciled on the roadway all the way down 4th Street to Highway 101, and bike racks will be added near businesses on the west end.

Las Gallinas Road through Northgate will be repaved this year. In an attempt to find the best North-South Bikeway route through the area, MCBC has been touring the options by bike with Andy Preston and his staff, Preston McCoy, and Transportation Alternatives for Marin President Patrick Seidler.

Andy Preston is also working to include bicycle facilities on East Francisco Boulevard. MCBC is pushing to have this done in conjunction with the Hwy 101/I-580 junction reconstruction, which is being funded at $20 million through Proposition 1B state bonds.

The Puerto Suello Hill HOV Gap Closure project, coordinated by the Transportation Authority of Marin, is already out to bid. It will include a new multiuse path on the highway side of the soundwall, running from Mission Avenue to the top of Lincoln Hill.

Sausalito

MCBC has been monitoring the Waldo Point Harbor Project to see about the possible inclusion of bicycle facilities. In a recent poll conducted by the City, a bayfront pathway ranked as a #1 priority of local residents. Connecting the Mill Valley pathway south to the Ferry Terminal is an MCBC priority.

Tiburon

Almost the full length of the Tiburon multiuse path is scheduled for reconstruction beginning at the end of April and running through September. The Marin Municipal Water District is replacing the existing, aging water main under the path in 300-foot segments. The path will remain open during the process, but the path will be narrowed to 6 feet wide during trenching. The pathway will be slightly improved; a three-to-four-foot-wide, decomposed-granite jogging path is being added on the north side. Currently there is only one jogging path on the south side. When the project is completed, the main asphalt pathway will remain at ten feet wide.

West Marin

MCBC spent considerable effort developing a consensus with the environmental community to request public access to and connectivity between Point Reyes Station and Inverness Park as part of the environmental review of the Giacomini Ranch Wetlands Restoration Project at the southern tip of Tomales Bay, part of the Point Reyes National Seashore.

The “Southern Perimeter Path,” if approved by the National Park Service, will run from the Green Bridge at Highway 1, down a levee, across Lagunitas Creek on a new bridge, through White House Pool Park to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. It is hoped that the County will pick up the ball there and run with it the rest of the way to Inverness Park. We thank Point Reyes National Seashore Superintendent Don Neubacher for working to get public access included as an option and to County Supervisor Steve Kinsey for supporting the public-access request.

MCBC is also working with the environmental community to come up with a consensus solution for repaving Sir Francis Drake Boulevard through Samuel P. Taylor Park that will not entail cutting down any trees or disturbing the land in environmentally sensitive areas, while still improving access for long-distance cyclists passing through the park enroute to and from Point Reyes.

MCBC recommends that the Countywide Plan Update include, among other things, a goal statement that 20% of all trips taken in the County be made by bicyclists and pedestrians by the year 2020, as well as objectives, targets and a timeline for achieving this goal.

Last updated May 2008