A 10-foot bike alley on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, as depicted in a project illustration, would cost $13.5 million or more. (Bay Area Toll Authority image)
By Mark Prado
A plan to put a bike lane on the westbound top deck of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is being questioned by a Marin supervisor who says using the space for vehicles makes more sense.
Commuters should see some traffic relief when a third lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge opens on the bottom, eastbound deck, a move set for April that could happen as soon as next month, transportation officials said. That project is coming in at $27 million.
A second bridge project would bring a 10-foot-wide lane on the north side of the upper deck. Bicyclists and pedestrians traveling east and west would use the space, which would be separated from car traffic by a movable median barrier.
That project would cost $13.5 million, with a $1 million contingency. Both new configurations would be deemed a four-year pilot project and would be analyzed after that time.
But Marin County Supervisor Damon Connolly, who sits on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Toll Authority, thinks new space on the top deck should be used for westbound vehicles.
“This project is of particular significance for Marin and Contra Costa counties,” Connolly said at the Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee meeting last week as the plan was reviewed.
“Perhaps of no surprise to many in the room, we have heard significant criticism, not unjustified in my view, about the westbound bike lane on the bridge in terms of what is being perceived as a hefty price tag for the project versus likely usage by bikes. There seems to be a question mark about what that usage would likely to be.
“At the same time clearly the vehicular congestion through this corridor has grown in the past five years. We need to serve folks who are on the bridge now.”
The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is the third least-used of the Bay Area spans, ahead only of the Dumbarton and Antioch bridges. But over the past five years, traffic has increased about 13 percent as the economy continues to grow.
Connolly asked toll authority staff to look at using the new westbound lane for vehicle traffic during peak commute times, with bikes there during non-peak hours and on weekends. He also asked to look at using the lane strictly for vehicle traffic during the week and bikes only on the weekend.
Contra Costa County representative Amy Worth sounded a similar theme at the meeting.
“It’s a corridor that’s becoming more and more congested,” she said. “Two-thirds of the commuters are coming from the east to the west. Many of those people are coming to service jobs in Marin and north and south from there.”
Staffers said they would look at both suggestions, but said adding vehicles into the mix could make the project more complex.
Also, the Association of Bay Area Governments is keen on finishing the Bay Trail — a ring around the bay — and would like to use the bridge to help complete the project.
Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said there might be a way to accommodate both vehicles and bikes.
“Is there a way to cohabitate? There may be,” he said. “The good news is that this project has a movable barrier system as part of its design, so that gives us some flexibility to make some decision in how we operate it to try to have the capacity available for cars when they need it and to have the capacity available for bikes and pedestrians when they are more likely to use it.”
But Santa Clara representative Jeannie Bruins wasn’t eager to see what was envisioned as a bike and pedestrian-only lane taken away.
“Don’t start with giving the lanes to cars because we never take lanes away from cars,” she said.
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