Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Access Improvement Project Seeks Inclusion into Plan Bay Area and Transportation Improvement Program

The 30-day public comment period begins June 19 through July 20, 2015

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Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Jun 19, 2015, 01:15 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., June 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) invite Bay Area residents to comment on a proposal to add the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Access Improvement Project to Plan Bay Area and to the 2015 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The 30-day comment period begins Friday, June 19, 2015. Comments must be received no later than Monday, July 20, 2015.

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Plan Bay Area is the region's first integrated long-range land use and transportation plan adopted by MTC and ABAG in July 2013. The 2015 TIP is a comprehensive listing of the Bay Area's surface transportation projects that are to receive federal funding or are subject to a federally required action, or are considered regionally significant for transportation/air quality conformity purposes. The proposed amendments would add the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Access Improvement Project to both the Plan and the TIP.

These amendments to the adopted Plan Bay Area and 2015 TIP necessitate a new Transportation-Air Quality Conformity Analysis and a technical addendum to the Plan Bay Area Environmental Impact Report (EIR). To review the proposed draft amendments and related documents, visit http://www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/plan_bay_area/.

Comments may be submitted to MTC by Monday, July 20, 2015 at the address below, or via email or fax as shown below.

Ashley Nguyen, Project Manager
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
101 Eighth Street, Oakland, CA 94607

Email: [email protected]
Fax: 510.817.5848

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Access Improvement Project aims to reduce traffic congestion on eastbound I-580 in Marin County and provide bicycle and pedestrian access between Contra Costa and Marin counties by 1) converting the existing shoulder on eastbound I-580 to a peak-period use lane during the weekday evening commute hours between Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (Marin County) and Marine Street (Contra Costa County); and 2) upgrading the current bicycle access with a separate 10-foot bi-directional bicycle/pedestrian path on the north side of I-580 adjacent to westbound traffic — connecting for the first time ever the Bay Trail between Contra Costa and Marin counties. A mix of permanent and moveable barriers would separate bicyclists and pedestrians from vehicle traffic for the proposed path adjacent to westbound I-580.

The proposed amendments to Plan Bay Area and the 2015 TIP, along with the two companion technical documents, are scheduled to be presented to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the ABAG Executive Board for consideration and approval in September 2015. Projects cannot be programmed for state or federal funding nor implemented unless identified in the long-range plan.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. ABAG is the Council of Governments and the official regional planning agency for the 101 cities and towns, and nine counties of the Bay Area.

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SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission