Facilities team staff Omar Garcia and Anthoney Heaven disconnected four electrical outlets at the corners in the intersection of Fourth St and D St and installed tamper proof covers. This was done to prevent both unsafe tampering and unlawful loitering in the downtown area.
Francisco Boulevard East is an important connection between the Richmond-San Rafael bridge and the Sir Francis Drake Flyover to Larkspur and is used by many bicyclists. The Richmond-San Rafael bridge is expected to reach their 100,000th bike rider in January! Together, the City of San Rafael, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), and the Bay Area...
Construction is moving along for the new signalized crossing on Third Street at San Rafael High School. The south (shopping center) side is complete and the driveway for the delivery trucks is open. The north (school) side is nearly complete. The last phase is the median, which the contractor broke ground on Tuesday January 5....
Streets and Parks Division crews have made a concerted effort to pick up as much of the fallen leaves as possible along City streets. Sometimes it seems like a losing battle as it takes some time for the leaves to stop falling! Different types of equipment are used to aid workers such as rakes and...
Garage Division staff picked up a new electric vehicle that will be used as a Parking Enforcement buggy. We anticipate these vehicles will be more reliable and cost effective than the vehicles that have previously been used. Here you see mechanic Jay Arieta securing the vehicle for transport back to DPW to be retrofitted for...
Along with assisting the Streets Division with storm preparation, the Parks Division continues with regular maintenance throughout the City. Here we see Parks Division Mechanic Jim O'Hagan painting over graffiti on a wall along the Puerto Suello bike path. Any type of derogatory or gang related graffiti is removed immediately as graffiti in this area...
City contractor Maggiora and Ghilotti Inc. recently rebuilt the small timber lagged retaining wall on the Northwest corner of Second Street and Irwin Street that had been damaged. This small project took place over a period of three nights and the City will be reimbursed for the repair work. ...
On the week of Dec 28th, demolition work began on the existing Southern Heights Bridge. Most of the bridge deck has been removed and the remaining supportive structure will be demolished in the coming weeks, weather permitting.
Last week the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) brought their sediment testing plan for the San Rafael Channel to some of the regulatory agencies last week, the first key step in the dredging permitting process. Regulatory agencies involved in the dredging permitting process (yes – USACE needs a permit too!) include the DMMO (Dredge...
The concrete has been poured on the south (Montecito Shopping Center) side of Third Street and the contractor is moving on to the north side of Third Street! The south side was the most complicated, given existing utilities for all the development on that side. Construction should go quicker on the north side and in...
The sunny weather has allowed DPW crews to catch up on winter prep. They have made a concerted effort recently to address the autumn/winter leaf fall as well as clearing out some of the major storm water outlets. In the photo you will see Streets Lead Worker Kenny Gatlin clearing cat tails from an outlet...
Playgrounds may remain open to facilitate physically distanced personal health and wellness through outdoor exercise. Playgrounds located on schools that remain open for in-person instruction, and not accessible by the general public, may remain open and must follow guidance for schools and school-based programs.
Parks Division has been busy assisting the Streets Division with winter prep as well as handling many other projects. Along with trying to keep up with the autumn/winter leaf fall in the parks, they recently did some restoration work to the Pickleweed field. This included aerating, fertilizing, seeding, top dressing and dragging. In the photo...
Local City contractor Maggiora-Ghilotti repaired a section of roadway this week at the intersection of D St and 2nd St. A portion of the concrete roadway was buckled in multiple locations due to damage caused by large tree roots. This was causing multiple humps in the roadway and was a safety concern for vehicle control...
The Jacoby Street rail crossing was not included in phase 1 or 2 of San Rafael’s Quiet Zone implementation because the crossing was a private crossing at the end of the line and by Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rules quiet zones cannot begin or end at a private crossing. The City asked SMART to close...
Thanks to the combined efforts of Streamline Builders and DC Electric, lighting has been installed along the multi-use path between Andersen Drive and Rice Drive. These LED lights are mounted to the existing fence between the creek and the pathway and are set to illuminate automatically once the sun has gone down. ...
Last week Public Works submitted a major grant for the reconstruction of Fire Station 54 under FEMA’s new Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) Program. If successfully awarded funds through the BRIC grant program, the City would receive $4.1m in federal funds, with a $1.4m local match, for the $5.5m Fire Station reconstruction. The project qualifies...
In order to provide continued distancing protection for library staff and the general public, the Facilities Division installed a new safety barrier at the Terra Linda mall library.
The new Police Station located in the Public Safety Center was in need of a proper charging station for their body cameras. The Facilities team was able to repurpose extra unused shelving pieces that match the existing cabinet and used previously used shelving to build an upper recessed cabinet. Facilities Division crew members Omar Garcia, Michael Reiser and Anthoney Heaven worked to complete this project and...
Andersen Drive got a little facelift earlier this week. The lanes were restriped, and green was added to the conflict zones to improve the experience for bicycles and vehicles. Below is northbound Andersen Drive approaching Francisco Boulevard West.
The Streets Division, with assistance from Parks Division staff, continues to clean out the storm water catch basins and headwalls. This work will continue into the rainy season to ensure stormwater flows through the City to the bay.
In a stroke of bad timing, a private water line created a small landslide at Meyer Road. Meyer connects to Southern Heights Bridge and the slide will impact our ability to construct the bridge. In order to keep the bridge project on schedule, City staff jumped into action. Here you will see Streets Supervisors John...
In order to ensure a safe passage for pedestrians and cyclists and maintain vegetation overgrowth, the Parks Division gave some needed attention to the Puerto Suello Bike Path. Here you see Parks Lead worker Matt Scales finishing up some landscape work along the path. Earlier this month, Parks Mechanic Jim O'Hagan cleaned up some graffiti...
In preparation for the upcoming winter season, the Parks and Streets crews have been busy cleaning out storms drains around the city. As a result, the DPW dump trucks have been getting a lot of use as well as accruing miles. Here you see Garage tech Jay Arieta performing the first Lube Oil Filter (LOF)...
DPW maintenance worker Matt Gaehwiler, along with a contracted labor crew, cleaned areas underneath the Highway 101 viaduct. This area has been littered with trash and debris the past couple months due to homeless residents that have vacated the area. SRPD received a consent letter from CalTrans to enter their property and clean up the...
North San Pedro Road between Merrydale Road and the SMART Railroad crossing recently received fresh striping. The centerline and lane lines were restriped, and a striped island was added to further separate the two directions of travel. The City is working with SMART to review this area for additional improvements.
As part of an ongoing collaboration between the City, SMART, and CPUC, the city reviews upcoming projects to see how they can enhance safety at railroad crossings adjacent to these city projects. This week as part of the Francisco Blvd West one-way conversion project, the city’s contractor installed warning striping on 2nd Street between the...
The City had two important kick-off meetings with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) staff on November 5th and 12th. The first was a virtual introduction to the project team at USACE that will be working directly on the San Rafael Channel dredging environmental/design, and the second was an in-person site visit to the...
The Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) has kicked-off a study of the feasibility and potential benefits of allowing buses to bypass heavy traffic on the US 101 by using the existing shoulder from Atherton Avenue/San Marin Drive in Novato to Mission Avenue in San Rafael. When buses can bypass congestion, transit (and sometimes even private...
Street Leaf Sweeping Will occur on November 21, 2020 starting at 7:30 AM. Public Works crews will be sweeping the following areas: Gerstle Park Additionally, Public Works will sweep up as many side streets as time permits.
