Dick Spotswood: Assemblyman should be commended for Richmond Bridge legislation

North Bay Assemblymember Damon Connolly has introduced Assembly Bill 1464 to address the weekday traffic backup on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The bill just passed the Assembly Transportation Committee on a unanimous bipartisan vote.

The dilemma, as 18,000 East Bay-to-Marin motorists well know, is the little-used upper deck bike lane should be opened during commute hours to autos.

Connolly’s legislation’s preamble succinctly states the facts.

“Traffic on the East Bay approach of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge has steadily worsened, even during the pandemic,” Connolly wrote. “Each workday during the morning commute, approximately 18,000 Bay Area residents cross the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The majority of those commuters, 63% are people of color, 69% don’t have a college degree … and 60% make less than the median income of the San Francisco Bay Area. Virtually all these drivers have no other reasonable means to get to work.”

The environmental impact of needlessly restricting cars, buses and trucks to two lanes during the westbound rush hour is emphasized.

“During the peak hour, on average, they face an added 16 minutes of gridlock,” the statement reads. “The morning backup is now the largest source of non-wildfire pollution in the city of Richmond.”

The solution is identical to what Connolly, a Democrat from San Rafael, suggested when he was a Marin County supervisor and its representative to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

The movable zipper barrier, like the one on the Golden Gate Bridge, would be moved to open the third lane to eastbound auto traffic during weekday peak commute hours. The zipper barrier would then be shifted, allowing bikes and pedestrians to utilize the third lane during the remainder of weekdays and on Saturdays and Sunday. It’s a compromise that addresses the needs of 18,000 while dealing with, on average, 87 cyclists.

AB 1464’s “call to arms” suggested changes are in “the interest of social justice, environmental justice, maximizing existing resources, reducing greenhouse gasses, and reducing the environmental impact from the traffic.”

Based on the past 45-day average, MTC indicates the typical daily bicycle crossings total 87 on weekdays and 300 on weekends, plus on average 14 hardy pedestrians who walk across on weekdays and 34 on weekend days.

The myth among cycling activists is that, given the opportunity, thousands of workers will commute by bike across long and windy bay bridges.

Reality check: Residents of Contra Costa and Marin are different from those in Amsterdam.

The proposed legislation adds an expensive sop to East Bay cycling activists. AB 1464 suggests adding a zipper barrier to the bridge’s lower deck. The idea is to create a lower deck bikeway for cycling commuters during the hours when the upper deck is exclusively for autos. How much that’ll cost to build and operate is unknown. It’s a question the Assembly Appropriation Committee should ask when AB 1464 stops there for approval.

Connolly is to be commended on AB 1464. The legislation’s biggest negative is the weak mandate to Caltrans and MTC, who retain the ultimate say.

The big “if” is that the legislation applies only if MTC and Caltrans “develop a project to open the third westbound lane … to motor vehicle traffic.”

When is that going to happen? Only then can MTC and Caltrans “consider all of the (legislation).” Those “weasel words” need to go. Then AB 1464 needs to be made mandatory.

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Marin is celebrating Saturday’s Earth Day all weekend. The family friendly outdoor festival is at Mill Valley’s Community Center on Sunday. It is open from 1-5 p.m. It features art, fun games, good food, music and “Green Santa Claus.”

Southern Marin’s favorite Santa, Ken Brooks, will be present as the jolly Green Santa, who needless to say is clad in green. He’ll be planting trees and carrying his Earth Day message to boys and girls.