Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trail FINAL Vote August 7; San Ramon Iron Horse Trail Bridge Now Open

State law requires projects in BCDC’s jurisdiction to provide the “maximum feasible public access” consistent with the project.

Before the previous meeting postponement in April, BCDC staff were planning to recommend against the MTC and Caltrans’ trail closure proposal for this reason.

The new proposal now before BCDC has not changed substantively since then.

This includes unanimous votes on resolutions to keep the trail open 24/7 from City Councils in Richmond, Albany, Berkeley, as well as via the West Contra Costa Transportation Commission and Bay Trail Board.

Over 80 transportation and sustainability organizations and community groups have signed onto Bike East Bay’s coalition letter in support of keeping the bridge trail open 24/7.

Represented in this coalition are national, state and regional organizations, as well as dozens of groups representing Richmond and other East Bay communities.

Another coalition partner is Save the Bay, one of the primary organizations that petitioned for the formation of BCDC in 1965 via the McAteer-Petris Act.

More than 5000 people have signed onto Bike East Bay’s petition in support of maintaining 24/7 biking and walking access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

This funding was already allocated in 2023 from Regional Measure 3 bridge toll revenue, per a negotiation for bicycle access improvements to the bridge trail in Richmond. This is not new funding.

It’s great that MTC is continuing to explore opportunities to further enhance bike/walk access to the bridge trail, especially since some of the connectivity investments on the Marin side weren’t made until partway through or fully after the 3-year bridge trail pilot period.

However, these and all of the other investments that have been made in bridge trail connectivity will lose value if bike/walk access on the bridge is reduced.

Increased access to the bridge trail and Marin County from Richmond on Fridays through Sundays does nothing to help people who need to cross when the trail is closed Mondays through Thursdays.

Such an impact would not be considered acceptable for car commuters, and it is just as unacceptable for bike/walk traffic.

As part of a study for an HOV lane on the bridge, MTC insists that they need to test the zipper barrier separating the trail from the roadway by moving it twice per week.

This test is being performed to understand how the bridge deck holds up to more frequent movement of the heavy concrete barrier.

However, these barrier movements could be performed all at once overnight every week, instead of every Monday and Thursday with the trail fully closed in between.

The barrier is already moved back and forth once per month overnight to allow Caltrans to perform maintenance on the bridge, with a free shuttle provided throughout the impact period.

This same strategy could be employed weekly with very minimal impact to trail users.

The schedule as described in MTC’s proposal means there will be neither bridge trail nor shuttle access for 37 hours of every week.

This will also mean 31 hours every week when there is no trail, shuttle, or even bus access. During these hours the only way to cross the bridge will be by car.

The proposed shuttle does not appear to accommodate non-standard bike frames (recumbents, adult trikes, handcycles, etc), meaning further impacts on people with disabilities who will have no bridge crossing option. 

Caltrans’ own Bay Area Bike Plan update that was just finalized this past month lists permanent, all-hours biking and walking access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge as one of the top ten projects for Marin County, and this is included as a Tier 1 priority project.

The permit amendment proposal Caltrans is participating in to reduce bike/walk access on the bridge is in conflict with their own, newly adopted plan.

Existing, funded projects via MTC’s Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Forward initiative to address the primary westbound congestion pinch points should be completed and studied before any further changes to the bridge are considered.

These include the open road tolling project, the westbound HOV/bus lane approaching the toll plaza, and the Richmond Parkway interchange project.

Additionally, funding for increases in transbay bus and other transit service need to be prioritized, not just transit lanes, enabling more crossings without adding more driving miles.