LOCAL NEWS

San Rafael roundabout plan faces resistance

Drivers negotiate the Freitas Parkway exit at Civic Center Drive in San Rafael on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

By ADRIAN RODRIGUEZ | arodriguez@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal PUBLISHED: March 11, 2022 at 3:01 p.m. | UPDATED: March 13, 2022 at 8:08 a.m.

San Rafael residents are sounding the alarm over a proposed traffic roundabout at a busy Highway 101 interchange.

Community members who participated in an informational meeting Wednesday said they are worried that the $4 million Caltrans project at the Manuel T. Freitas Parkway interchange could cause backups and unsafe conditions for bicyclists.

The long-planned work was first pitched as a project to move the bus stop at the northbound offramp to Freitas Parkway. The bus stop is unsafe because it requires riders to cross freeway-bound traffic, and it is in need of improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, planners said.

The proposed roundabout on the east side of the freeway at the Redwood Highway and Civic Center Drive intersection has become the centerpiece of the project. The roundabout aims to improve traffic flow and make it safer.

“The roundabout is really a result of having to relocate the bus stop because of the ADA improvements,” said Matt Korve, an engineer with AECOM, the firm designing the project. “Cyclist improvements through the interchange are not part of the project in the current scope.”

Shirley Fischer, co-founder of the North San Rafael Housing Coalition of Residents, said drivers would be competing for access into the roundabout from the freeway offramp and eastbound Freitas Parkway.

“This project needs to consider safety as a high priority,” Fischer said. “Who’s going to know who’s got right of way to enter that circle?”

Korve said the queue of cars from Freitas Parkway would have the right of way, because that entrance into the roundabout is ahead of the entrance from the freeway offramp.

Regarding bicycle access over Freitas Parkway to the east side of the freeway, Fischer said planners need to think about cyclists’ safety, too.

“This needs to be a plan for the next 20 years or 40 years,” she said. “Looking only at only at the transit and pedestrians is not sufficient.”

The project would move the northbound bus stop to the northbound shoulder of Redwood Highway, a frontage road parallel to the freeway. A retaining wall at the corner of Redwood Highway would be extended, and a northbound pedestrian and bicycle path would be added from Civic Center Drive toward the bus stop. The pedestrian path from Redwood Highway to the bus stop will be removed.

On the other side of the freeway, the southbound bus stop would remain between the southbound onramp and offramp. Stairs to Freitas Parkway would be removed, and an accessible path would be added. A refuge median would be added to the Freitas Parkway crosswalk.

Cyclists advocated for a southbound bicycle path from Redwood Highway through the roundabout to Civic Center Drive.

Matthew Hartzell, director of planning and research at Transportation Alternatives for Marin, said “Overall, this is a really exciting concept.”

“However, I have to say from the perspective of the bicycling community this project does not quite live up to the aspirations and hope that we would want,” he said.

Hartzell said the road from Civic Center Drive through Redwood Highway is an unfinished segment of the Bay Trail system, a network of bike paths through the Bay Area.

“I think it’s clear that this is a significant change to the intersection but obviously people will get used to it and understand that it is a different configuration,” said Bill Guerin, director of public works.

After hearing feedback, Guerin said, Caltrans is going to relook at the roundabout with a goal of better accommodating bicycles. However, he said the city is working on a separate project to add a bike path along Merrydale Road that would connect cyclists from the east side of the freeway to Northgate mall.

“This would be a more direct, and safer path for riders,” he said. The project is in the design phase, he said.

Vice Mayor Rachel Kertz participated in the meeting.

“This is going to be a huge change for directly the Terra Linda community but for anyone who exits the freeway,” she said. “This won’t be the last conversation.”