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MAD
Comment on the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Draft EIR before 12/6/17
MAD ACTION ALERT
Wednesday December 6 is the deadline for public comment on the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Rehabilitation Project.
Send in your comments now – even if you've commented at previous stages of the project and even if you aren’t sure they are “environmental” concerns.
Important points to make in your Comment Letter:
Tell the County to...
1. Analyze the impact of narrowing vehicle lanes – Narrowing the vehicle lanes is a very controversial aspect of this project, yet the DEIR doesn’t analyze it at all. At the public workshops, the stated “benefit” of narrowing these lanes was to slow down traffic. That's not a benefit! We want the County to investigate the impact. At one point, lanes were to be narrowed in order to add a Bike Lane, but the Bike Lane has been eliminated. Narrowing is necessary in some spots but not all the way from Ross to the highway. (From El Portal to the highway, on the eastbound side, narrowing is necessary because a third vehicle lane is being installed without widening the roadway. From the highway to El Portal, on the westbound side, narrowing is necessary because the sidewalk is being widened for increased pedestrian safety.) We recommend that the County re-do the study to include the impact of narrowing of lanes – or they shouldn’t narrow any lanes west of El Portal.
2. Eliminate the additional left turn lane from westbound SFD onto College — This is ill-advised at best. To insert an additional lane, the County will eliminate parking spaces or trees along SFD Blvd. westbound. With two lanes of cars turning onto College, this will cause a merging problem on College Ave. which may cause vehicles to collide with each other or with pedestrians. An independent traffic engineer has found that the Level of Service change is minimal. So, a lot of change for no good reason. We recommend that they not add the second left turn lane at College Ave.
3. Scrap plans for an on-street crosswalk at Wolfe Grade and identify ADA-compliant alternatives — Supposedly the addition of a street-level crosswalk is required by the ADA because the intersection is being re-paved. This is despite the fact that a child was killed and others injured in a crosswalk at this location. The County says that the current overhead crossing structure cannot be modified, but one citizens group believes it can be. There is no space in the footprint of the current overhead crossing structure to build a new, ADA-compliant version -- it will remain -- but what about nearby? While Safe Routes to School and parents will direct kids to continue to use the overhead crossing structure, there’s no guarantee that they will. This puts our children at risk of injury or even death, and the County (i.e., us) legally liable. We recommend that the County continue to look for an alternative ADA-compliant way to get children across Sir Francis Drake Blvd. somewhere in that corridor.
4. Eliminate the plan to insert a third eastbound lane from El Portal to Highway 101 – The County proposes to narrow the two existing eastbound lanes in front of Bon Air Center in order to make room for a third narrow vehicle lane. This won't improve vehicle flow. The back-up is caused by the constricted ramp onto Highway 101. We recommend that the County not spend the money to insert a third eastbound lane from El Portal to the highway.
Send Comment Letters to:
Via Email –
To Dan Dawson at sfdimprovements@marincounty.org
CC Supervisor Katie Rice at KRice@marincounty.org
Via Postal Mail – (Mail several days ahead of December 6)
Dan Dawson
Principal Transportation Planner
Marin County DPW
Box 4186
San Rafael, CA 94913-4186
| For your information: Read the entire 400+ page DEIR document here: https://www.marincounty.org/~/media/files/departments/pw/transportation/proj_sfdb/1sfdb_prdeir_main.pdf?la=en Read the public comments received about the project so far, in the “Appendices”: https://www.marincounty.org/~/media/files/departments/pw/transportation/proj_sfdb/1sfdb_prdeir_appendices_all.pdf?la=en Look at the Presentation Materials from the final public meeting, “Community Open House (6/1/16)“ on the project webpage: https://www.marincounty.org/depts/pw/divisions/transportation/transportation/sir-francis-drake-boulevard-rehabilitation |