North San Pedro Road Gets Bicycle Lanes
Unprecedented Collaboration Improves Public Safety

The City of San Rafael, the County of Marin, and the Marin County Bicycle Coalition announced today that bicycle lanes will be striped this week on North San Pedro Road as part of a $1 million road reconstruction project which is adding an additional left-turn lane from North San Pedro Road onto Civic Center Drive, as well as a right-turn lane from San Pedro onto Civic Center Drive.

In April, road crews under contract with the City of San Rafael were asked to temporarily halt work on the $1 million intersection improvement project as the City studied if bicycle lanes could be added to the 1000 foot stretch between the Highway 101 ramps and Civic Center Drive.

The investigation became affirmative for new bicycle lanes when the County of Marin agreed to eliminate nine parking spaces on the east side of North San Pedro Road, allowing crews to shift the median southward to accommodate bicycle lanes on both the north and south sides of the roadway. The County reports that it was found that the adjacent office properties are properly parked, and these businesses were notified in advance about the loss of on-street parking, and the added benefit of a bicycle lane.

The inclusion of bicycle lanes on North San Pedro Road marks an unprecedented collaboration among the City of San Rafael, the County of Marin, and the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, which had been pressing for bicycle lanes as part of this project since 2001.

Paul Cohen, Vice Mayor of the City of San Rafael says, "It's important to work together to seize opportunities to expand bicycle access whenever we can. This was one of those opportunities, and I'm glad that we were able to make it happen."

Ken Eichstaedt, a civil engineer who is President of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition notes that this section of North San Pedro Road joins with the San Francisco Bay Trail, and is also significant because it is directly in front of the Civic Center, "The fact that the City of San Rafael stopped the road work to study and now include bicycle lanes shows that Marin is serious about the potential to become a national model for bicycle transportation. Every road repaving project provides opportunities for our public roadway system to become more people-friendly."

Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey says, "The new bicycle lanes are consistent with both the County's and City's newly adopted bicycle and pedestrian master plans. The bike lanes will be ready soon, in time for people to ride to the Marin County Fair."