Bridge bike lane plan gets backing

Panel wants access on Richmond-San Rafael span provided by Caltrans

By Rebecca Rosen Lum, Contra Costa Times
September 20, 2002

OAKLAND - A pitch by several dozen cyclists convinced a Bay Area planning board Thursday to support adding bike lanes to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Surprising the nearly 50 bike enthusiasts who argued for direct bridge access, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission decided to work up a resolution backing bike lanes and vote on it at its Oct. 17 meeting.

Cyclists showed up at the commission's special hearing to urge Caltrans to install bike lanes on the bridge in an effort that mirrored the fight to get bike lanes on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. "I am astonished, really, as I see resistance by Caltrans become more entrenched as the rationales become weaker," said commission member John Leonard.

At an estimated cost of $3.7 million, a proposed lane on each deck of the 5.5-mile Richmond-San Rafael span would require joint efforts by state and federal lawmakers, Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, backers said.

"Caltrans' own studies have shown that public access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge would be feasible, inexpensive, and safe," said Deb Hubsmith, executive director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.

There's more than enough room, she told the commission: The bridge's 12-foot shoulder is three times the size of a standard bike lane.

Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, has also championed the bike lanes, and has suggested he will use his political muscle to see they are installed. "When Caltrans requests permission from BCDC to re-deck the bridge ... I encourage BCDC to require direct bicycle access as a condition for this permit," he wrote in a letter to BCDC chair Barbara Kaufman.

Cyclists have pressed for access to the bridge for 30 years. In 1975, Caltrans assented, but changed course, installing a water pipeline in reaction to the drought.

The BCDC called on Caltrans to study bike access in 1997. The report drew on 10 years of statewide traffic data for the 1,000 miles of California freeway that allow cycling. Caltrans also requested an additional safety study last year from the Norman Y. Mineta International Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies. The upshot: Cyclists and motorists rarely collide.

In fact, the vast majority of accidents occur when cyclists attempt to navigate intersections, the study showed.

Caltrans crews have been working on a $484 million retrofit of the two-deck span. That work is expected to be completed in late 2006. While the work is under way, cyclists suggested they access the bridge on Golden Gate Transit and AC Transit buses. Their ultimate goal is a cantilevered structure separated from traffic, which would allow two- way travel by cyclists and pedestrians. The estimated price tag: $93.4 million.

Most, but not all, Bay Area bridges offer bicycle access:

• The Dumbarton Bridge has an 8-foot wide path, installed 12 years ago.
• The San Mateo bridge offers no bicycle access.
• After its seismic retrofit, Carquinez Bridge will include a two-way, 12-foot lane.
• The new Benicia bridge will also contain a bicycle lane.
• Mad River Bridge has a single, 2-foot shoulder.
• Antioch bridge has one 5-foot shoulder that is heavily trafficked by cyclists.
• The Bay Bridge transports cyclists on its bicycle shuttle. A 15 1/2-foot lane on the east span has received the approval of planners as part of the new construction, which is under way. A Caltrans study reported an additional lane on the west span would mean a total cost of roughly $140 million.