What if we spent $20 million of taxpayers’ money on creating a bike path that few people used?
That sums up the state’s costly four-year “trial” of turning an upper-deck lane of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge into a bike path.
At the end of this test, it is time for common sense and reality.
Compared to the 80,000 vehicles that cross the bridge on weekdays, the number of bicyclists averages 115 on weekdays and 325 on weekends.
The result is bumper-to-bumper traffic inching along to get on the westbound deck and a little-used bike path.
The trial has clearly proved that very few bike riders are interested in pedaling across the 5.5-mile bridge.
Meanwhile, they’ve taken up a lane – one that for many years had been reserved for maintenance and emergency access – that could be used to address the growing number of motorists and commercial vehicle traffic that rely on the bridge.
As Marin Assemblymember Damon Connolly has stressed, the traffic jam not only causes a debilitating drag for workers bound for Marin jobs, but the pollution caused by the congestion on the highway and side streets fouls the air for neighborhoods in Richmond, many of which are home to lower-income and minority residents.
A state-funded study recently showed that Richmond communities near Interstate 580 are experiencing higher exposure to harmful pollutants.
Connolly authored legislation calling on the state to open the bike lane to traffic during westbound commute hours and a moveable barrier be installed for the lower deck, moving morning bike riders to the eastbound deck. His bill didn’t make it out of the Assembly.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the regional agency that pushed for the trial, is not recommending changing the configuration at this time.
It is looking instead at removal of the bridge’s toll booths and extending the carpool lane.
The worry is that removing the bike lane could create more congestion on the Marin side of the bridge.
Likely, that means more time for more studies.
Meanwhile, traffic congestion continues, as does the pollution it generates. So does the 20 minutes that jam adds to the westbound morning commute. And few bicycles will be using the “trial” lane.
It has been a costly test. That $20 million could have done more for promoting safer biking being spent in Marin or Richmond.
The bridge bike lane was called the answer to the missing link in the long-envisioned San Francisco Bay Trail, a safe picturesque route circling the bay.
The real-life quandary is – as proven by a trial and the millions spent – few cyclists are interested in making that 5.5-mile trek across the bridge.
MTC could still meet that goal – at less cost – by opening the lane to traffic and meeting the needs of bike riders and hikers by implementing an hourly shuttle taking them across the span.
Given the numbers – 80,000 vehicles and only 115 bikes – and the traffic congestion, it’s hard to call the bike lane trial a success.
MTC needs to admit its costly folly. The lane is neither an environmental, nor a multi-modal success. The agency needs to set a diligent course of action. The numbers are clear. The lane failed to live up to its supporters’ hopes.
At this point, studying it to death is not a solution.
