One of Marin’s most dangerous roads will be getting a revamp – and MCBC has been leading the charge to make it as bike-friendly as possible.
Bellam Boulevard is a six-lane road in San Rafael’s Canal Neighborhood. Along with the I-580 freeway, it acts as a huge barrier to walking and biking in the community, and is flooded with car traffic day in and day out. Since 2013 there have been nearly 150 people injured in crashes on just the short half-mile stretch of Bellam Boulevard between Andersen Drive and Kerner Boulevard – a quarter of them (36) were walking or biking when they were hit. Marin County’s 2024 Local Road Safety Plan highlighted Bellam Boulevard as one of the highest priority corridors for safety improvements.
Happily, a plan is in the works. Managed by the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM), the “US 101/I-580 Multimodal and Local Access Improvement Project” (yes, it’s a mouthful) began as an effort to improve freeway traffic headed from northbound US-101 to eastbound I-580, but was expanded to include additional safety improvements on Bellam Boulevard. These changes will be transformative.
Some parts of the project are still up in the air, but we’ll talk about what has been firmly established at this point, and how MCBC brought that about.
Multiuse Paths on Both Sides
At present, Bellam Boulevard has some short sections of paint-only bike lane, which is obviously insufficient for a street that sees so much traffic. Initial plans for this project proposed protected bike lanes, which would have represented an upgrade. However, a big limitation is that unidirectional bike lanes on wide streets don’t help you go “upstream” without doing two u-turns. This results in people riding the wrong way (aka “riding salmon”), which other road users may not expect.
Rather than discourage this behavior we should design for it, in this case by creating two-way multiuse paths on both sides of the street, which the project now includes.
Access to the SMART Pathway
On the southwestern end of the project, where Bellam Boulevard intersects with Andersen Drive, the current access to the SMART path involves a very steep driveway that is not ADA compliant. Thanks to our advocacy, a fully accessible ramp will be included in the project to facilitate people walking or riding from the Canal to the SMART pathway headed south toward Larkspur and the Ferry Terminal.
Sidewalk Gap to be Closed
The northeast side of Andersen Drive where it travels under US-101 does not have a sidewalk, despite being located near a spot used by day laborers. This leads to frequent sightings of pedestrians walking in the roadway. However, even though there is a painted bike lane here, it does not provide a safe experience for most riders, as traffic speeds and volumes here are both high. MCBC and our volunteers successfully pushed for the inclusion of a full 10’ multiuse path here, which will not only make pedestrians safe but improve safety and access for bicyclists as well. While the path will not extend the whole way to the SMART pathway at Francisco Boulevard W, it paves the way for a project to close the last few hundred feet.
Roundabouts Inbound
While this is still somewhat to be determined, the current designs would install large roundabouts at the US-101 on/off-ramps and Kerner Boulevard. These would improve traffic flow and safety by keeping car traffic moving through the intersection at a steady (but safe) rate of speed. Pedestrian crossings will be accommodated by raised crosswalks and flashing beacons.
You can watch a video rendering of the full project here.
When Will This Happen?
Before you hold your breath, this project is still a number of years away from completion. Because it will involve the reconstruction of part of I-580, a very complicated process, it’s not expected to break ground until 2031. Much of that will involve the intricate processes of environmental review and engineering design.
But it is key that we have been highly involved at this early stage, where big changes are still easy to make. Click here to read more about the project or sign up for project updates.