About
Project goals
- Provide a two-way protected bikeway and new sidewalk to improve bicyclist and pedestrian experience
- Close a gap in the San Francisco Bay Trail
- Improve connectivity to/from San Rafael Downtown, Transit Center, and the Canal neighborhood
Budget
| Planning/Design | $130,000 |
| Construction | $1,000,000 |
Overview
The City of San Rafael is continuously working on active transportation projects to improve the routes between the Canal neighborhood and Central San Rafael. In 2019, the Grand Avenue pedestrian and bicycle bridge was completed. In 2021, the pedestrian crossing between San Rafael High School and Montecito Plaza was completed and the Francisco Boulevard East sidewalk was widened to eight feet. In 2022, the City will launch a bike share system in partnership with the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) and cities along the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) corridor.
In 2023, the City plans to construct a new protected two-way cycle track and widened sidewalk on the east side of Grand Avenue from Second Street to Fourth Street. This would achieve the goal of getting bicyclists and pedestrians to and from Fourth Street, the main east-west multi-modal route through town. This segment is also a project in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, 2018 Update as Project F2.
Impacts
This project proposes to maintain vehicular traffic flow on Grand Avenue between Fourth Street and Second Street but necessitates driveway modifications and the removal of a street median and a few on-street parking spaces.
Currently, Grand Avenue between Fourth Street and Third Street has driveways and on-street parking spaces on both sides. The on-street parking spaces will remain in the southbound direction (west side of Grand Ave), but seven on-street spaces are proposed to be removed on the northbound direction (east side of Grand Ave) to accommodate the new cycle track and widened sidewalk. Furthermore, the northbound approach at the Grand Avenue and Fourth Street intersection will be modified to a single through and left turn lane.
On Grand Avenue between Third Street and Second Street, the travel lanes will be shifted to the west and the existing median and approximately three on-street parking spaces (on the west side of Grand Ave) will be removed to accommodate the addition of a new two-way cycle track and modification of the northbound travel lanes to allow for a dedicated through lane and two left turn lanes. The driveway to the gas station on the northeast corner of Second Street/Grand Avenue (just north of Second Street) will be converted to a one-way entrance.
The figure below shows the proposed two-way cycle track (in green) to be added the existing parking spaces (red circles) and median (red X) to be removed.
Timeline
| Design | Winter 2023 |
| Bids due | Spring 2023 |
| Construction | Summer 2023 |
