Dick Spotswood: Before Highway 37 plan, we need to know Marin-Vallejo public transit market

Caltrans has proposed a long-term plan to address the dilemma that plagues Highway 37 between Novato and Vallejo: rising sea levels and inadequate traffic capacity.

The Caltrans “preferred solution” is a $6 to $8 billion 30-foot-high, four-lane causeway stretching 21 miles from Highway 37’s junction with Highway 101 in Novato to Vallejo. It’s a first-class idea that addresses rising bay waters that often close the roadway while increasing traffic capacity.

It’s needed by the 50,000 daily commuters, most of whom work in Marin, commuting from affordable Solano County. As a bonus, it restores wetland habitats bordering San Pablo Bay.

Given California’s budget surplus and the obvious need for action, Caltrans should prioritize the causeway commencing ASAP. To expedite funding, the state should decide the highway should be subject to an electronically collected toll. That’ll be “back to the future” as the roadway between Sears Point and Vallejo was constructed in 1928 as a privately operated toll road.

The state agency doesn’t expect to complete the task for 20 years (that’s 2042!). Caltrans’ track record demonstrates that when it makes an estimate on a project’s completion date, it’s usually overly optimistic.

To address the decadeslong delay, Caltrans proposes an interim fix. They’d spend $430 million to simply widen the section of Highway 37 from Sears Point to the Napa River near Mare Island to four lanes – bad idea.

The $430 million is undoubtedly a lowball estimate – double it. Some suggest in phase one, the segment from Sears Point five miles east to Lakeville Road be elevated due to predicted flooding. Add that and the quick fix could cost $1 or $2 billion.

Even a “short-term” job will take a decade as the lengthy environmental process hasn’t begun. Caltrans’ interim concept is wasteful. The expanded unelevated roadway will need to be demolished when the causeway is ultimately opened.

A better approach is building the full causeway now on the Sears Point-to-Napa River section of Highway 37. That’s the portion immediately threatened by rising bay waters and the most in need of capacity enhancement.

Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) introduced Senate Bill 1050 to charge a toll on Highway 37. Unfortunately, it died in the last session. Legislators need to stop dithering. Once a combination of federal, state and, crucially, toll dollars are in place, the project can get into gear.

Today there is zero public transit along the Highway 37 corridor.

Planners suggest the Highway 37 final fix be accompanied by an extension of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit tracks from Novato to Vallejo and on to Suisun to connect with Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor line. That day may come, but it’ll take decades.

Let’s find out if there’s a Marin-Vallejo transit market. Do it by inaugurating Golden Gate Transit bus service along Highway 37 linking Solano County with Marin to connect in Novato with SMART and Golden Gate Transit’s Highway 101 bus trunk line.

Denis Mulligan, the Golden Gate Bridge District’s general manager, says funding of such a route would only be accomplished in conjunction with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as Solano County is outside the Bridge District’s boundaries.

That’s doable. Golden Gate Bus Route 580 from San Rafael to Richmond and El Cerrito’s Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Contra Costa County is multijurisdictional. It involves Golden Gate and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District with MTC facilitating the funding split.

Mulligan adds for bus transit to be competitive with driving, buses need a time advantage.

The blockades on Highway 37 are at the Napa River bridge and the junction of highways 23 and 121 at Sears Point. The roadway shifts from four to two lanes at both spots.

If a bypass exclusively for buses was constructed at both choke points, commuter buses will enjoy a substantial time advantage.