2023 Feb 17 Caltrans Tiburon Boulevard (Highway 131) Repaving Project - Environmental Study

February 17, 2023

Dina El-Tawansy, Director
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), District 4
111 Grand Avenue
Oakland, CA 94612
qvan.ry-gnjnafl@qbg.pn.tbi

Re: Caltrans Tiburon Boulevard (Highway 131) Repaving Project -Environmental Study Request

Dear Director El-Tawansy,

On behalf of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, I write to respectfully request that Caltrans include relevant items identified the Marin County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and the Tiburon Corridor Study alternatives analysis in the upcoming Caltrans Tiburon Boulevard (Highway 131) Repaving SHOPP Project Environmental Study Request.

Caltrans’ Tiburon Boulevard passes through the jurisdictions of both the unincorporated areas of Marin County and the Town of Tiburon, providing vital access to the Tiburon peninsula. The scope of the Caltrans project includes repaving the entire length of Tiburon Boulevard from the Mill Valley City limits to downtown Tiburon. This important arterial roadway provides access to nearly every street on the southern side of the Tiburon peninsula.

Complete Streets plays a key role in advancing mobility, supporting congestion relief, greenhouse gas reduction, and reducing vehicle ownership. Caltrans, Town of Tiburon and the County of Marin all have Complete Streets policies to provide safe accommodations for all roadway users, including bicyclists and pedestrians. Specifically, Caltrans adopted Director’s Policy Number DP-37 in December 2021 stating that all Caltrans transportation projects will provide complete streets facilities.

Currently, there is a lack of a safe pedestrian path of travel, particularly between East Strawberry and Greenwood Cove. Portions of this road are part of the San Francisco Bay Trail network, and there is no alternative connection for cyclists and pedestrians between Tiburon and Belvedere, and Strawberry and Mill Valley. Users must ride or walk their bicycle on the Tiburon Blvd. shoulder, with no separation or protection between them and vehicles traveling at 45 mph or faster next to them. This is also a designated route for several schools with improvements identified in plans and studies to improve safety for school children and all users of the roadway.

The 2018 Caltrans District 4 Bike Plan identifies bicycle corridor improvements on Highway 131/Tiburon Blvd as Top Tier Projects within Marin County. Additionally, the 2018 Marin County Unincorporated Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and the June 2012 Tiburon Bay Trail Gap Study identified improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians in this corridor and include the following:

• South side Class I path connection between E Strawberry Drive and Greenwood Cove Drive;
• Safety improvements at E Strawberry Drive, including removal of the pork-chop islands and tightening of the right turn curve radius on to E Strawberry Drive from eastbound 131; and
• Installation of Class II bike lanes between Redwood Highway Frontage Road and Trestle Glen

Inclusion of these improvements in Caltrans’ Environmental Study Request will provide an opportunity to advance multi-modal transportation and safety on Tiburon Boulevard for years to come and will make it possible for people to move around their communities safely and efficiently. Together, these improvements will deliver better transportation options, reduce air pollution, increase transit ridership, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and provide significant mobility benefits to these communities in Marin County.

In closing, inclusion of these locally identified needs and alternatives in Caltrans’ Environmental Study Request will help Marin County continue to develop in a sustainable manner by focusing on moving all roadway users rather than automobiles, reducing the environmental impacts of transportation, and providing more viable multimodal transportation choices.

We respectfully urge your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Moulton-Peters, President
Marin County Board of Supervisors

Cc: State Senator Mike McGuire
Assembly Member Damon Connolly
Marin County Board of Supervisors