Marin, Sonoma officials call for shorter Highway 101 carpool lane hours

North Bay leaders are pushing back on the expanded carpool hours on Highway 101.

Officials at the Transportation Authority of Marin and the Sonoma County Transportation Authority have agreed to write a joint letter pressuring Caltrans to evaluate shorter time restrictions as soon as possible.

The Marin board voted unanimously to authorize the letter at its Oct. 23 meeting. It is expected to be sent this week.

“I do support the letter because it does show that we’re been responsive to the many comments that we are receiving,” said San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin, a board member of the Transportation Authority of Marin.

Assemblymember Damon Connolly said he also supports a change and is working with transportation officials in both counties on a proposal to curb the hours.

“I think it was a one-size-fits-all approach by Caltrans and MTC,” the San Rafael Democrat told the Independent Journal editorial board last week. The MTC is the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

“My understanding is effectively they were trying to harmonize these hours with those from around the whole entire Bay Area region, including with bridge approaches,” he said. “I don’t think that works. I think they need to be tailored with the circumstances in our area.”

“We need to find a solution that continues to encourage carpooling because that’s what we want to see happen, but realistically looks at the needs of residents who are using 101 as well,” Connolly said.

The new carpool hours are from 5 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. on weekdays in both directions. Caltrans imposed the expanded hours to make the carpool restrictions consistent in both counties and to align with the hours on the state-owned bridges.

Previously, carpool hours in Marin were 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. southbound and 4:30 to 7 p.m. northbound. In Sonoma County, the hours were 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6:30 p.m. in both directions.

Since the Sept. 8 launch of the new lane restrictions, frustrated drivers have complained to officials in both counties that they need relief from new chokepoints and the longer commutes, particularly for commuters traveling south in the morning.

Caltrans said traffic patterns need to adjust, and it would take about six months of study before changes could be considered. In the interim, Caltrans has proposed activating new ramp meters to help reduce backups.

In April, officials at the Transportation Authority of Marin fought against the carpool lane hours, citing an analysis that showed potential for new backups during the morning commute in San Rafael and in the afternoon commute in Corte Madera.

The agency said shortening the hours to 6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6:30 p.m. would help reduce prolonged gridlock.

To alleviate concerns, Caltrans activated ramp meters at four northbound onramps in June so they would be in place ahead of the carpool restriction change.

The carpool-hour change launched this fall to coincide with the completion of the Marin-Sonoma Narrows widening project, which added a third lane north and south on the 16-mile stretch between Novato and Petaluma.

The lanes opened on Sept. 29 and now offer a contiguous stretch of carpool lanes for about 50 miles, from the Richardson Bay Bridge in Marin to Windsor in Sonoma County.

“September is traditionally a higher-volume traffic month with school back in session, and we did see the typical post-Labor Day increase in traffic in the corridor,” said Derek McGill, planning director at the Transportation Authority of Marin.

On Oct. 1, the waiver allowing drivers of zero-emission cars to use freeway carpool lanes came to an end.

McGill said it’s been a dynamic period with the confluence of several changes impacting traffic patterns, making data collection challenging.

Planners said they believe the activation of the northbound ramp meters has worked. With that in mind, Caltrans has proposed accelerating the activation of meters at four ramps in the southbound direction in Marin from San Antonio Road to Rowland Boulevard and six on the northbound side from Spencer Avenue in Sausalito to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Larkspur.

Caltrans also would work to activate five meters on southbound Highway 101 through Sonoma County and another six on the northbound side, the agency said.

State transportation officials propose completing the project by the end of January and then studying the impacts before considering whether to change the hours of operation for the carpool lanes.

Gabe Paulson, the Larkspur City Council’s representative on the Transportation Authority of Marin board, said he’s heard complaints from the community and many service workers coming from Sonoma.

“I just want to underscore that this is not something where I want to wait for six months, if possible,” Paulson said.

Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan, chair of the Transportation Authority of Marin, said he had a conversation about the issue with Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority.

He said they agreed that a letter would “probably bear more weight” if it came from both agencies.

In the letter, they also will ask that any mitigation efforts, such as the introduction of new highway ramp metering, do not increase backups onto local roads.

Lucan said he thinks the brunt of the new congestion is happening through Novato, where he lives. He said he’s been journaling his commute experience, saying it takes about 35 minutes to go 4 or 5 miles past the Highway 37 interchange.

“One of the worst things that’s happening, though,” he said, is drivers using navigation devices are being rerouted to cut through Novato past schools to save five to 10 minutes.

“And a lot of people do that, and so that also is creating a lot of challenges around our schools and also a lot of safety concerns,” Lucan said. “So, I do think urgency is really critical here.”