$20 million OK'd for Marin bicycle, walking routes

Rob Rogers
Marin IJ, April 18, 2007

County supervisors approved $20 million in federal funds to support walking and biking in Marin - but they cut back on plans to reconstruct the old Alto railroad tunnel connecting Corte Madera to Mill Valley.

Supervisors blamed the cutback on officials from both cities, saying neither city wanted to spend $850,000 on a study of the tunnel without first considering other alternatives.

"It irks me to have spent two and a half years trying to raise funding for the exact study that Corte Madera and Mill Valley are now telling me they don't want to go forward with," said Supervisor Charles McGlashan.

Instead, the county will spend $250,000 on a study to consider possible alternate routes connecting the two cities. City planners believe the cost of rebuilding the Alto Tunnel could eventually exceed the cost of rebuilding the Cal Park tunnel between Larkspur and San Rafael, currently estimated at $20 million.

Supporters of the tunnel project, who packed the supervisors' chambers Tuesday, called the tunnel project an essential connection for bikers traveling between Corte Madera and Mill Valley.

Building the tunnel, they argued, would help the county achieve the goal set by the federal Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program - convincing drivers to consider walking or biking for journeys within Marin.

"My son played T-ball in the Twin Cities this year, and we would have loved to ride our bikes there," said Mill Valley resident Douglas Nelson. "But there were no alternatives, so we drove to the Twin Cities. That's at least 12 trips that could have been mode-shifted" from car to bicycle, Nelson said.

Supporters insisted the tunnel would be the only way cyclists could travel between the two cities without having to travel over steep inclines, which could be intimidating to all but the most serious cyclists.

"In 1884, the Northwest Pacific Railroad commissioned a geologic study to find the best route between Sausalito and San Rafael," said Frank Berto, who bicycled through the Alto Tunnel in his youth. "They found the money to build the Alto Tunnel because there was no viable alternative. And today, there is still no viable alternative."

Craig Yates agreed, saying that the proposed $250,000 study would be a waste of time.

"Don't talk about it. Don't give the money to consultants," said Yates, who sits on the elderly and disabled advisory council for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. "Just give the money to the engineers and let them be done with it."

However, some residents on both sides of the tunnel have objected to the prospect of cyclists passing through their neighborhoods.

"These two neighborhoods are adamantly opposed to reconstruction of the tunnel," said John Palmer, representing the Scott Valley Homeowners' Association.

"When that tunnel was built in 1884, it was built without steel. To reconstruct a 2,200-foot tunnel and make it seismically safe would be an enormous project, and to call it a 'reopening' of the tunnel would be a misnomer," Palmer said.

Supervisors contended that they'd done their best to accommodate $220 million in requests for bicycle and pedestrian projects with only $20 million in federal grant money. A 2005 transportation bill originally pledged $25 million for Marin programs, but that amount has since been cut to $20 million.

Cutting back on the Alto Tunnel project would allow the county to include an $850,000 bike path along Novato's Alameda del Prado and $150,000 for improvements to Ross Valley's Madrone Avenue, planners said.

"The Alameda del Prado project is extremely important, because it's part of the north-south spine connecting San Rafael and Novato, the two largest population centers," said Deb Hubsmith of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. "And the Ross Valley project is also important, because we've had bicyclists killed trying to cross Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at that intersection."

Other recommended projects include $150,000 for a crossing near Tamalpais High School, $200,000 for a pedestrian crossing in Ross along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and $80,000 in pedestrian improvements to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Fairfax. The board also approved spending $50,000 to link Terra Linda's Mall at Northgate with the county Civic Center and $922,000 for improvements to 10 intersections throughout the county.

The board recommended spending $2 million to design a bicycle corridor from the proposed Cal Park Tunnel to the Larkspur ferry terminal, and another half a million dollars to connect Bellam and Grand avenues in San Rafael.

County planners also pledged to set $2.8 million aside to pay for future projects. That money could be used to pay for further study of the Alto Tunnel project, said Public Works Director Farhad Mansourian.

Mansourian added, however, that the money is earmarked for projects along the county's north/south corridor between Corte Madera Creek and Puerto Suello Hill.

Despite the Alto Tunnel dispute, both bicycle advocates and county officials saw Tuesday's decision as the first step in shifting Marin's emphasis from cars to bicycles.

"I consider this to be a great day," McGlashan said. "I consider 'automobilis singularius' to be public enemy number one. Climate change is no joke."

Supervisor Steve Kinsey agreed.

"We're going to make history with a project that could be a blueprint for other communities," Kinsey said.

Contact Rob Rogers via e-mail at rrogers@marinij.com