Open Alto Tunnel Shows Up

MCBC has been working hard to put the Alto Tunnel in the news recently! Thanks to hard work and great turnout from volunteers at Open Alto Tunnel (OAT), we have been able to make two big advocacy pushes in the last month!

Asking for a Resolution

As detailed in our last blog post, MCBC and OAT are asking that the Mill Valley and Corte Madera councils renew their 25-year-old resolutions of support of the project to reopen and rehabilitate Alto Tunnel for bicycle and pedestrian use. Both resolutions were passed well before the planning and geotechnical work that was done in the 2010s, and it’s high time for both towns to show that they are still committed to the project! Passing such resolutions would cost them nothing, but would be an important demonstration of support to decisionmakers at the County.

Fantastic Turnout

MCBC and OAT volunteers attended the Mill Valley City Council meeting on February 17th and the Corte Madera Town Council meeting on March 3rd. At each, we took time during open public comment to ask that the councils agendize a renewal of the resolution of support. People shared powerful stories of how they or their families would use the tunnel, or how a crash they suffered might have been avoided had the tunnel already been open. 

All in all, we had over a dozen commenters in Mill Valley and over 20 in Corte Madera! These are all people who took time out of their busy lives to ask their local government to take concrete steps to improve walking and biking in southern and central Marin.

Next Steps

Because we were speaking during open comment rather than on an agenda item, the councils could not respond to our requests. We will be scheduling follow-up meetings with the councilmembers to hear their questions or concerns, and dispel some of the myths perpetuated by the project’s detractors.

If you live in Mill Valley or Corte Madera and would like to participate in a meeting with one of your councilmembers, please email warren@marinbike.org to let us know! Our voice at MCBC means a lot, but councilmembers need to hear from their constituents to have the courage to push this through. 

Press Coverage

Our advocacy has garnered coverage in the Marin IJ, which you can read here. Unfortunately, not all the coverage has been positive. Both Dick Spotswood and the Marin IJ Editorial Board went out of their way to try to bat down the project, dismissing it as a “green dream” that is “too costly to consider.” 

Unfortunately, this was just more of the same conservative, do-nothing, finger-wagging nonsense we’ve been hearing for a decade. We addressed some of Spotswood’s errors in a letter to the editor here. 

Part of our continuing effort is helping people understand how projects like the Alto Tunnel are funded. Like the Larkspur tunnel, the Alto Tunnel would not be paid for purely local dollars but rather from state and federal grant programs that would otherwise award money to projects in other counties. In this light, the $60M cost of the tunnel is the amount of money we would bring back to Marin, rather than an amount we could be spending on other projects. 

How to Get Involved

Here are some ideas!

1. If you haven’t already signed the petition to reopen Alto Tunnel. Find it here. 
2. Send an email to your councilmembers saying you support the tunnel, particularly if you live in Mill Valley or Corte Madera. Click here for Mill Valley or click here for Corte Madera.
3. Submit a letter to the editor of the IJ. It just takes a minute! See instructions for doing that here. 
4. Volunteer at upcoming events. We’ll have a booth at Earth Day in Mill Valley and will be marching in the Mill Valley Memorial Day and Corte Madera 4th of July Parades. Look out for information about each of those in the coming months!
5. Donate to support MCBC’s work with Open Alto Tunnel. 

Thanks again to all of our great volunteers and everyone who made their voice heard calling to open the Alto Tunnel!