HISTORIC TRESTLE COMES DOWN BUT
ANOTHER CROSSING IS BEING PLANNED NOW

By Deb Hubsmith, Executive Director Marin County Bicycle Coalition

The recent start to the dismantling of the trestle in Larkspur has created a mis-understanding about the future of a bicycle and pedestrian bridge that will span East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Corte Madera Creek.

First, I understand that the trestle holds a lot of symbolic value to many in Marin County. It was where the famous scene in the movie Dirty Harry was filmed, and trains ran across the Larkspur trestle for nearly a century.

The removal of the trestle certainly removes an important piece of history in Marin County; however, it DOES NOT remove the future for a North-South Bikeway spanning East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (as some have stated in the press).

Read on to learn more about the history of the MCBC's position on the trestle, current plans to design a new structure, and funding for the new structure. If you don't have time to read all of this, be assured that there WILL be a new structure built to cross Sir Francis Drake and Corte Madera Creek. There is already funding for this project pending in Senator Perata's Toll package as part of the County of Marin's Greenbrae Interchange Project.

HISTORY

MCBC originally was advocating for the conversion of the trestle to a multi- use pathway. In March of 2001, we opposed Larkspur's move to get approval from the Golden Gate Bridge District and the County of Marin to remove the trestle for their road widening project (note, the County and GGBHTD have owned the railroad right-of-way, but this ownership is now being turned over to SMART, Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit).

At the GGBHTD public meetings, it was clear that there was no support for keeping the trestle. Still we opposed it's removal. At the same time, we advocated for the County of Marin to apply for a planning grant from the San Francisco Bay Trail Project to do an alternatives analysis of the five options that were identified by Atla Planning and Design in the County's Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan for creating a crossing of SFD and Corte Madera Creek (the trestle was one of the five options).

Those of you who have worked on large infrastructure projects before understand that there is a process to go through before a "preferred alternative" is selected. For this project, we needed to have an alternatives analysis study of the five alternatives identified in the County's Bike/Ped Master Plan before any alternative could be chosen. The project would not simply move forward by saying "let's just convert the trestle", as there are other alternatives, there are many agency's who own land or the right-of-way, and the trestle is 80 years old.

We began to seek sponsors for the study. The County was our first choice, but they declined to be the lead on this project, as they were exploring moving forward with the Cal Park Hill Tunnel, and they didn't want to take on two big projects at once. We also approached the Bridge District to be a lead agency for the study, but they do not own land touching the facility and did not want to be involved. Corte Madera also declined. That left the Larkspur City Council.

Larkspur stated that they would apply for the Bay Trail's grant for the alternative's analysis only if MCBC removed our opposition to the removal of the section of the trestle across Sir Francis Drake. This was probably the most difficult decision that the MCBC Board ever made.

The decision to go forward with the study (and remove our opposition to the removal of the trestle was based on several factors):

1. We could not begin to construct a bike/ped bridge without an alternatives analysis/environmental analysis/design process. The only way to start this alternatives analysis was to work with Larkspur.
2. The grant application for the study/alternatives analysis included a scope of work for the project that committed Larkspur and its partnering agencies to the alternatives study, environmental work, and design of the preferred alternative. THIS WOULD MOVE THE PROJECT FORWARD! Opposing the removal of the trestle would still leave us without the most basic step before construction: an alternatives analysis.
3. If we opposed the removal of the trestle, it would be likely that Larkspur would then oppose the County in applying for a grant to open the Cal Park Hill Tunnel.

Thus, MCBC withdrew our opposition to the removal of the trestle, and we worked with Larkspur to submit a grant to the Bay Trail Project (part of the Association for Bay Area Governments).

CURRENT STATUS OF A FUTURE STRUCTURE

In April 2001, the City of Larkspur submitted a grant application to the Bay Trail Project to do the alternatives analysis for the crossing -- called the Central Marin Ferry Connection Project (CMFCP). This grant application included a memorandum of understanding from the Bridge District, the County, and Corte Madera as to the scope of work for the project, and the outcome: a bike/ped bridge that would cross Corte Madera Creek and East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard with access to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal via an off-ramp to SFD.

In the Fall of 2001, the grant request was funded by the Bay Trails Project!

In the Spring of 2002, a Technical Advisory Committee for the grant was formed, and Alta Planning and Design was selected to manage the scope of work. The MCBC has two seats on the TAC, held by MCBC Board member Nancy Weninger and myself. The County of Marin, GGBHTD, Corte Madera, the Bay Trail Project, and Caltrans also serve on the TAC, ensuring that the design and analysis will include all landowners.

Because MCBC insisted, the grant included an analysis of the state of the 80- year-old trestle. The engineering documentation showed that the drawbridge was completely in-operable -- to replace the drawbridge and retrofit the existing trestle would COST MORE than constructing an entirely new bridge (with the same look as the trestle but higher, to meet coast guard requirements). In addition, the drawbridge was problematic because it would require someone to let boats in and out. This would cost over $50,000, and we may never have gotten approval from the Coast Guard. In addition, the engineers stated that the 80-year old trestle would not necessarily be able to withstand another 20 years (which is a requirement for any granting agency to invest money in building or retrofitting a structure).

At the present time, there are two alignments that are still being considered for the project: an alignment along the railroad right-of-way, and an alignment paralleling the freeway off-ramp. Both cost in the range of $8-$10 million.

FUNDING FOR THE NEW CROSSING (CMFCP)

Since that first alternatives analysis grant, the MCBC's cooperation with the City of Larkspur and the County of Marin have yielded additional funding to BUILD a new structure.

This Spring, Larkspur secured $60,000 from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to begin the design of the preferred alternative(s).

In May, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission required that the County of Marin put $400,000 towards the preferred alternative for the Central Marin Ferry Connection Project. This was a condition for the County's permit from BCDC for their HOV Project. These funds will be used for the environmental analysis for the Central Marin Ferry Connection Project.

Most recently, the County of Marin INCLUDED the CMFCP as part of the scope of work for the Greenbrae Interchange Project (GIP), which will consolidate 12 highway on and off ramps (which are confusing and sub- standard) into one diamond interchange. This means that as the County of Marin seeks funding for the GIP, they are also seeking money to build the Central Marin Ferry Connection Project (and the Cal Park Hill Tunnel) at the same time. This ENSURES that the crossing across Corte Madera Creek as Sir Francis Drake will be built! In addition, Senator Perata's toll increase bill includes the Greenbrae Interchange Project, with the Central Marin Ferry Connection Project and Cal Park Hill Tunnel explicitly listed in the legislation.

This is SUBSTANTIAL, because it means that the County of Marin is including about $13 million of funding for the North-South Bikeway as part of their budget and scope of work for the Greenbrae Interchange Project (total cost estimated at about $70 million).

The Cal Park Hill Tunnel and the Central Marin Ferry Connection Project will provide world class bicycle and pedestrian access to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, helping to relieve congestion and providing for a healthy commute option which also provides fantastic views of the Bay.

CONCLUSION

The bridge to the future is in progress! The Marin County Bicycle Coalition made the right decision by chosing to move this project forward, rather than fighting a losing battle and making enemies at the same time. It takes partners to undertake HUGE projects like building the North-South Greenway. We are grateful that we have been able to build a partnership with the Larkspur City Council and their staff.

The MCBC is working overtime to improve bicycle and pedestrian transportation in Marin County. We have accomplished a tremendous amount in a relatively short amount of time.

If you would like to get involved with the North-South Greenway campaigns, contact me at deb@marinbike.org