County winds down bike lane project in Ignacio

Brent Ainsworth
Marin IJ, April 29, 2010

Brian Ielmorini with Argonaut Constructors checks the grade along Alameda del Prado in preparation for street paving. The crew has nearly completed this $1 million bike lane project in Ignacio, south of Novato. (IJ photo/Robert Tong)

Construction crews are a few weeks away from finishing a nearly $1 million bike lane project in Ignacio that will help preserve the safety of two-wheeled riders who often came within inches of moving cars on the dangerous half-mile stretch.

Mark Birnbaum has been waiting 10 years for the upgrade. The Novato resident commutes on his bike just more than 16 miles to his job as controller at Snader & Associates in San Rafael and has always been nervous riding the narrow stretch of Alameda del Prado.

"It became apparent the first day I ever commuted on my bike in 2000 that it was totally unsafe there," Birnbaum said. "It was just a matter of time before somebody got killed by an impatient driver. I've had a couple of close calls myself."

An extra-wide median on the northern section of Alameda del Prado has been narrowed to allow for bike lanes in a portion of the road between Posada del Sol and Alameda de la Loma, just south of Ignacio Boulevard. The winding street is a frontage road that often handles overflow traffic when Highway 101 is backed up, and it is a main route for children attending Loma Verde Elementary School. The 30-foot-wide median created a dicey situation for bike riders when they were being passed by vehicles.

The segment is considered a key link in the North-South Bikeway used by bike commuters. Previously, riders had to switch back and forth between the east and west sides of Highway 101 in southern Novato if they were determined to ride in standard 5-foot-wide bike lanes.

Birnbaum took the risk each weekday by riding along Alameda del Prado rather than dealing with what he deemed a more dangerous route of crossing overpasses and handling traffic on the busier Nave Drive, the frontage road on the east side of the freeway. He sought the help of Marin County Supervisor Judy Arnold five years ago to make the Alameda del Prado project a priority, and Birnbaum credits Arnold for pushing it forward.

"Now there is going to be one more segment that is becoming rideable for the average person," he said. "The only way bicycle commuting is a meaningful mode of transportation is if people other than the hardcore riders will do it. This increases the chance of people trying it, and if they do it they will encourage others to do it."

The Marin County Department of Public Works and its WalkBikeMarin program has overseen the project, which is just outside the Novato city limits. Underground work was finished in October and new street lights were installed in November. Craig Tackabery, assistant director of public works for the county, said he expects the job to be finished in late May.

WalkBikeMarin was established several years ago to help make Marin more healthy, livable and environmentally sustainable by encouraging walking and bicycling as everyday transportation. A survey showed that Marin bike commuting more than doubled between 1999 and 2009.

The initiative received a boost with a $25 million federal grant from the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program in 2007, the year that Marin was selected as one of four communities in the United States for the program to improve bike paths and increase biking and foot traffic. Projects financed through the program include the Los Ranchitos bike lane near North San Pedro Road in San Rafael and sidewalk improvements on Medway Road in San Rafael.

The cost of the project is expected to be $950,000. The Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program, part of the Bicycle & Pedestrian Program of the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Human and Natural Environment, is covering $850,000. The other money is split between the county and another grant.