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Building bridges for a span across the San Rafael Canal

By Brad Breithaupt
Marin IJ, July 12, 2007

BUILDING a bridge across the San Rafael Canal drew a lot of support from officials at a forum Tuesday night.

Jonathan Frieman, a San Rafael civic activist, hosted the forum that brought more than 50 people to the Pickleweed Park Community Center. Politicians, bureaucrats, the billion-dollar Marin Community Foundation and advocacy groups were represented around the table.

Even state Sen. Carole Migden and Assemblyman Mark Leno, her Democratic challenger, sent representatives.

But there were few Canal area residents who would use the span to get to school, stores or jobs.

The idea has been discussed before, most recently in 1999 when the city prepared an engineering study that said it could cost millions. A recent list of transportation goals for Canal area residents and businesses placed a bridge as a top priority.

At a recent meeting with Marin Supervisor Steve Kinsey, the idea was raised by local teens as a way to connect the Canal with the rest of the city.

Frieman is trying to build public support for the idea to help get grants to design and build the span.

Where the crossing would take place — even the possibility of a tunnel under the canal — is up in the air.

Theo Posthuma of Ross has plans for a retractable bridge from the end of Canal Street to the 100 block of Third Street, across the street from San Rafael High School and about a third of a mile east of the Montecito Shopping Center.

But others at the meeting questioned whether that might be too far away from the Canal’s population center to do much good.

“Can we make it a little more central to the apartment complexes?” asked Olivia Beltran, who works with the Grassroots Leadership Network of Marin.

The Rev. Paul Rossi, pastor of St. Raphael Church, was there to lend his support.

“I would love to see the community down here have more access to the whole town,” he said.

“Where there is political will, there is money,” predicted David Hoffman, director of planning of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, which sees the crossing as a bike link.

	Building bridges for a span across the San Rafael Canal By Brad Breithaupt Marin IJ, July 12, 2007 BUILDING a bridge across the San Rafael Canal drew a lot of support from officials at a forum Tuesday night. Jonathan Frieman, a San Rafael civic activist, hosted the forum that brought more than 50 people to the Pickleweed Park Community Center. Politicians, bureaucrats, the billion-dollar Marin Community Foundation and advocacy groups were represented around the table. Even state Sen. Carole Migden and Assemblyman Mark Leno, her Democratic challenger, sent representatives. But there were few Canal area residents who would use the span to get to school, stores or jobs. The idea has been discussed before, most recently in 1999 when the city prepared an engineering study that said it could cost millions. A recent list of transportation goals for Canal area residents and businesses placed a bridge as a top priority. At a recent meeting with Marin Supervisor Steve Kinsey, the idea was raised by local teens as a way to connect the Canal with the rest of the city. Frieman is trying to build public support for the idea to help get grants to design and build the span. Where the crossing would take place — even the possibility of a tunnel under the canal — is up in the air. Theo Posthuma of Ross has plans for a retractable bridge from the end of Canal Street to the 100 block of Third Street, across the street from San Rafael High School and about a third of a mile east of the Montecito Shopping Center. But others at the meeting questioned whether that might be too far away from the Canal’s population center to do much good. “Can we make it a little more central to the apartment complexes?” asked Olivia Beltran, who works with the Grassroots Leadership Network of Marin. The Rev. Paul Rossi, pastor of St. Raphael Church, was there to lend his support. “I would love to see the community down here have more access to the whole town,” he said. “Where there is political will, there is money,” predicted David Hoffman, director of planning of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, which sees the crossing as a bike link.
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