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Richard Hall
Critical meeting Wednesday March 8th - SMART generating major traffic congestion
San Rafael, California
7:00 PM PT
Next Wednesday there is a critical meeting where the San Rafael city council will be taking feedback and deliberating on the SMART extension to Larkspur, we need to pack this chamber. We'll be giving out "Save Our San Rafael" stickers so the city and SMART can see just how many people are alarmed by what is currently set to happen:
WHEN: 7pm, Wednesday March 8th
WHERE: San Rafael City Hall
Why is this So Important?
SMART is going to be extended to Larkspur - this has major implications that traffic experts say will turn downtown San Rafael and 101 into a traffic mess (like it isn't one already!)/
- for the sake of a projected 115 daily SMART train riders by 2035 San Rafael will be hit with a traffic apocalypse
- new rail crossings over 2nd and 3rd street will delay 50,000 cars daily
- traffic experts say this will cause backups onto 101, affecting 217,000 cars daily
- the largest transit center in the county will have half it's platforms moved to temporary locations because the train bisects the platforms
- for many years we will have buses loading and unloading (at the terminus) on busy city streets, compounding traffic issues and jeopardizing the safety os pedestrians
What Outcome Do We Want?
- given the massive impact, the SMART extension to Larkspur should be delayed until SMART demonstrates it will generate sufficient ridership
- there has never been an Environmental Impact Report to assess the true impact on traffic, transit and greenhouse gas emissions. There needs to be one. Sure it will delay the train a few years, but this assessment is necessary and should have been conducted long ago by SMART
- the SMART extension to Larkspur should be delayed until a new permanent transit center can be funded and built. This funding should not detract from funding going to truly solve traffic congestion issues.
Richard Hall
Save Our San Rafael
http://www.saveoursanrafael.org/
Organization: Save Our San Rafael
Website: http://www.saveoursanrafael.org/