Transportation officials in Marin are preparing to begin the environmental review process for the project, which aims to reduce the burden of commuter traffic through the connecting ramp between Highway 101 and Interstate 580 eastbound.
The Marin Transportation Authority approved the project last year. The project requires the construction of a partially elevated ramp to ease congestion. When drivers cross city streets and enter Interstate 580, the congestion will gradually increase.
To reach the interstate, drivers traveling north on Highway 101 must exit the highway on East Sir Francis Drake Avenue in Larkspur or Bellam Avenue in Framp, San Rafael.
Anne Richman, executive director of the Marin City Transportation Authority, said: “This is one of the few freeways in the Bay Area where there is no direct connection between the highway and the highway.” “You must get off on these local roads.”
TAM has allocated approximately US$150 million for the project, of which approximately US$135 million comes from regional measure 3 bridge tolls, and US$16.5 million comes from measure AA (Marin’s Transportation Sales Tax).
According to Richman, transportation officials’ goal is to conduct an environmental review of the project in 2021 and complete it by 2024. The final design of the project will be completed in 2026, and construction will begin in the same year, and will end in early 2029.
Dan Cherrier, TAM’s project planner, outlined several project designs for the San Rafael City Council this month. Costs range from US$104 million to US$446 million. Officials said that before construction starts, additional funds need to be allocated for the project.
Two preliminary designs show that a connector is driving eastward from Highway 101 past Francis Drake, past the Marin Sanitary Service (Marin Sanitary Service). One will turn to the south side of the Central Marin Health Bureau, while the other will turn to the north side. On these connectors, the car will travel at approximately 50 mph, reach a height of 60 feet, and cost between US$323 million and US$447 million.
Marin bathroom service partner Adam Hoffman told San Rafael officials that his company opposed these two design options. He said they will run through the company’s waste treatment facilities and “greatly disrupt” the company’s operations.
In other designs, the car departs from Highway 101 further north, close to Framp’s Bellam Avenue, and runs parallel to West Francisco Avenue. In three of the designs, the cost will be between 104 million and 214 million U.S. dollars, and the car will travel at 35 mph. Their height will vary, the highest height can reach 100 feet. In the fourth design, the speed of the car is estimated at 179 million dollars per hour, and the speed is 45 mph.
Richman told the San Rafael Committee: “This is a project that TAM is currently in the early planning stages.”