***POSTPONED*** Final Vote to Save the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trail

March 27, 2025 Update

***UPDATE: The April 3rd hearing and vote on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge trail has been postponed again, this time indefinitely.***

Here is the info from the Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC) meeting agenda:

“Caltrans has requested BCDC postpone the Commission’s scheduled public hearing and vote on Caltrans’ Richmond-San Rafael Bridge permit application, which was set for Thursday, April 3, 2025. Caltrans plans to amend its permit application, and BCDC looks forward to considering an amended project that we expect will provide additional potential transportation benefits and maximum feasible public as consistent with that project. See Attachment B for more information.”

This delay is good news, and likely a result of all the folks who wrote in and expressed their concerns about the trail closure proposal. Thank you!

However we aren’t letting our guard down, and will continue sharing any updates we receive with everyone who has signed our petition. If Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission are going to continue pursuing a trail closure we should know within the next three months.

So for the time being, good job everyone and go enjoy a bike ride or walk on the bridge!

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trail campaign we have been working on for a year is approaching a final decision point on April 3rd, when Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) members will decide whether to keep the bike/walk path open 24/7, or to allow it to be closed every Monday through Thursday for conversion to a breakdown shoulder.

The meeting agenda and public comment information has been posted to the BCDC website here. We need your help to speak up and save the trail!

To email your comments now, please send them to publiccomment@bcdc.ca.gov and reference “Agenda item number 8: Public Hearing and Possible Vote on an Application by the California Department of Transportation for the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Pilot Project Modifications”. Comments will also be accepted in-person at the meeting, or virtually via Zoom.

Over the past year we have been assembling a massive coalition in opposition to the closure including more than 4500 petition signers, more than 70 community organizations and non-profits, and five local boards and councils who have all voted unanimously to keep the path open including:

• • • Richmond City Council
    • Albany City Council
    • Berkeley City Council
    • West Contra Costa Transportation Commission
    • Bay Trail Board

We are hopeful that BCDC members will vote to keep the trail open, abiding by the group’s charter which protects and prioritizes access to the Bay Trail. But we still need your help to get this campaign over the finish line.

Here are some things you can do now:

• • • Register for our public comment sign up form here, so we can send you info about how to email a comment in advance of the April 3rd BCDC meeting, and/or send you a text message once the day-of comment period starts so you can log in to make a live comment via Zoom
    • Share our petition link at BikeEastBay.org/RSR with your friends and colleagues to help us reach and exceed our 5000 signatures goal
    • Sign the separate but related SF Sierra Club petition here in support of the bridge trail, which also allows you to send an instant message to decision makers
    • Fill out our form to sign your Bay Area organization onto our coalition letter – Any type of group can sign on and show solidarity, not only biking or environmental organizations. We are especially interested in hearing from Richmond and West Contra Costa groups!
    • Visit BikeEastBay.org/RSR today to read about the work done to date, background info on the bridge campaign, and responses addressing the misinformation that has been spread by our well-funded opposition
    • Donate to Bike East Bay to help the advocacy gears turning on this and many more campaigns throughout Contra Costa and Alameda Counties

Our advocacy for the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge trail started decades before its grand opening in 2019. So no matter what happens on April 3rd, our fight to maintain permanent access will continue as long as it takes.

Thank you for your support!