Important Public Hearing Regarding Bicycle Access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
With the Bay Conservation and Development Commission
Thursday, September 19, 1 PM
Metropolitan Transportation Commission Building
8th and Oak Streets in Oakland
On Thursday, September 19, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission will hear from Caltrans and the public on the long standing debate regarding public access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, which contains a 12 foot-wide shoulder (three times the size of a Caltrans-standard bike lane).
Based on positive results from two studies commissioned by Caltrans, bicycle, trail and social justice advocates will be asking again for direct bicycle access to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge shoulder, as soon as the seismic retrofit is complete. Assemblyman Joe Nation also supports direct bicycle access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
Bicycle advocates have been working for direct access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge for more than three decades. In fact, in 1975, Caltrans had resolved to let bicyclists use the outside shoulder as a bike lane. Unfortunately, the plan was dissolved after a pipeline for water was installed due to the severe drought of the mid-1970's.
In 1997, bicyclists fought to get public access as part of the permit that was issued by BCDC for the seismic retrofit of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The Commission, which was sympathetic to public access, required that Caltrans do a study on the feasibility of public access. Provided that access was determined to be feasible, Caltrans was to submit by December 31, 1999 an implementation plan for providing public access as soon as the seismic retrofit is complete.
Released in December 1998, this Public Access study (which Caltrans participated in) analyzed 10 years of statewide traffic data for the more than 1,000 miles of California freeways that already allow bicycle access. The study showed that bicycle access to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge would be safer than most city streets, because of the unusually wide separation from traffic (a twelve-foot shoulder), long sight lines, good lighting at night, and the lack of traffic intersections.
In an effort to further refine accident data, an additional "Statewide Safety Study of Bicyclists and Pedestrians on Freeways, Expressways, Toll Bridges, and Tunnels" was conducted in 2001 at the request of Caltrans by the Norman Y. Mineta International Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies. The report concluded, "Bicycle collisions on bridges are rare events. Bridges and tunnels do not appear to have of a greater safety problem than exists on the adjacent roadways."
Thus far BCDC has received over 300 individual and organizational communications in favor of direct access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, which is part of the planned San Francisco Bay Trail. Deb Hubsmith, executive director of the MCBC says, "Caltrans' own studies have shown that public access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge would be feasible, inexpensive, and safe. It's time for Caltrans to move forward with bicycle access."
