Among the biggest obstacles to bicycling in the Bay Area can be the bay itself!
BATA is working to develop a transbay bicycle/pedestrian path linking Contra Costa and Marin counties.
Plans call for construction of the path along the north side of Interstate 580, with barriers separating the path from freeway traffic, from Castro Street in Richmond across the upper deck of the bridge to Grange Avenue in San Rafael.
Download our fact sheet. Get the specifics on where the path begins and ends, on both sides of the Bay.
The estimated $25 million bike/ped path project is moving forward in tandem with conversion of the right shoulder on eastbound I-580 to a third traffic lane from Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in San Rafael to the Marine Street (Richmond Parkway/Point Richmond) exit in Richmond.
Both projects are now in the project approval/environmental documentation phase.
BATA expects to advertise and award construction contracts in mid-2016, and to complete construction late in the summer of 2017.
When completed, the roughly six-mile bike/ped path will add another link to the future 500-mile Bay Trail and provide the first-ever connection between Bay Trail segments in Contra Costa and Marin counties.
BATA is working in partnership with Caltrans, the Transportation Authority of Marin and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority on both the bicycle/pedestrian path project and the project to add a third travel lane to eastbound Interstate 580 from the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. on-ramp in San Rafael to the Marine Street (Richmond Parkway/Point Richmond) exit in Richmond.
The bicycle/pedestrian path between Contra Costa and Marin counties will feature a permanent concrete barrier to separate bicyclists and pedestrians from Interstate 580 traffic from Castro Street in Richmond out to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
On the bridge itself, the pathway will be separated from freeway traffic by a moveable concrete barrier that will allow BATA and Caltrans to perform bridge maintenance duties during short-duration closures of the path. These closures typically will occur at night.
The third traffic lane for eastbound Interstate 580 will be open to motorists during weekday evening commute hours.
To accommodate the additional traffic, construction crews will:
- Reconstruct the Main Street on-ramp from San Quentin Village to improve the traffic merge with the new third lane
- Replace pavement on approaches to and from the bridge to accommodate traffic loads
- Relocate and reconstruct a retaining wall in Richmond to provide safe sight distances for eastbound motorists traveling in the new third lane
