Maintenance Closure Alert Mill Valley- Sausalito Path
On Monday, October 18th through Tuesday, October 19th, Marin County Parks will close a portion of the Mill Valley-Sausalito Pathway for resurfacing.
As anyone who has ridden the pathway knows, the pavement is badly in need of repair, and we applaud the effort to smooth out the ride for cyclists. The closure will take place from Gate 6 Road to McGlashen Pathway on Monday the 18th 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Segment 1, shown in yellow below), and from McGlashen Pathway to Almonte Boulevard on Tuesday the 19th 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Segment 2, shown in orange below).
Unfortunately, Segment 1 of the MV-S Pathway runs alongside US-101 and does not have a parallel walking/biking route, meaning that during the closure there will be no way to walk or bike between Sausalito/Marin City and Mill Valley or the rest of Marin County.
While the original plan was to direct travelers to the every-30-minutes bus route, MCBC pushed the County to provide additional parallel accommodations for this crucial segment of Marin’s active transportation network. As a result, a van with a bike trailer will be present, along with ADA shuttle service (in addition to the existing Marin Transit bus route, the 17/17X).
That being said, due to low capacity on all of these, we urge all users of the path to either avoid this segment of the path for these two days or seek alternative transportation to reduce the strain on the transit being provided. The shuttles will likely only arrive every 20-30 minutes and should be reserved for people who did not otherwise get notice of the closure.
Segment 2 will require a detour via the McGlashen Pathway, Route 1, and Almonte Boulevard, shown here, which will add 0.4 miles to the trip. Unfortunately, while there are bike lanes for part of this route, there are no pedestrian facilities (i.e. sidewalks).
Below is a Q&A that will answer some of the questions we’ve heard:
Does this really need to happen?
It is demonstrably the case that the pathway pavement is in bad shape and in need of resurfacing.
Is there a way to partially close the path?
No. Due to the size of the resurfacing equipment and the width of the path (12 feet), it is not possible to resurface, say, the west side and then go back and do the east side of the path.
Why aren’t we getting more notice?
Pavement resurfacing needs time to “cure” (dry) after being laid down, therefore the weather forecast affects when they can pave. Marin County Parks had given us a broad window but not an exact date until now.
WHY we can’t close the US-101 shoulder?
We floated this with Caltrans and they were not interested. The shoulder closure would have required over a half-mile of K-rail (aka Jersey barriers) which would have been a substantial investment for a two-day closure.
What bus/shuttle service will be available to bridge the gap?
The Marin Transit 17/17X has stops at Gate 5 Road, Pohono Street, and Almonte Boulevard. It comes every 30 minutes on the half hour from 6:30 – 9:30 AM, every 60 minutes between 10:30 AM – 2:30 PM, and then every 20/30 minutes until 5:20 PM, after which it comes every 60 minutes. Additionally, there will be specific shuttle service with a bike trailer that will come every 20/30 minutes. Please do not use this unless you cannot make other arrangements. We want to make sure it’s as available as possible for people who did not hear of the closure.
For people traveling from Marin City to point north, you can use the Marin Transit 61 to Tam Junction and Mill Valley or the Marin Transit 71 to Strawberry, Corte Madera, San Rafael, and beyond.
Is this the project to raise the pathway?
The Evolving Shorelines project that will either raise or realign the Mill Valley-Sausalito Pathway is a separate project and is further out in development. We will have an update on that soon.
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We appreciate your patience and understanding in this project. We know it will be inconvenient for some, but we’re all looking forward to smoother pavement on the pathway.
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