Final Remaining Marin-Sonoma Narrows Segment Now Out to Bid!
On October 25, Caltrans requested bids to construct the final segment of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in each direction from Novato to the County line. This marks a momentous milestone in the Marin-Sonoma Narrows project and will complete continuous HOV lanes from Sausalito to Santa Rosa. Bid opening is planned for early January 2022, subject to change due to variations in the bid environment. Construction is anticipated to begin in spring 2022 with the new HOV lanes targeted to open at the end of 2024.
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Historic Infrastructure Bill Signed
On November 15, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) was signed into law by President Biden. This historic federal legislation provides significant investments for a broad range of infrastructure, including transportation (roads and bridges; passenger and freight rail; airports, ports, and waterways; public transit; electric vehicles; safety; and reconnecting communities) and core infrastructure (power grid, broadband, water, environmental resiliency, and environmental remediation).
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The biggest piece of the new infrastructure bill is an approximate $475 billion reauthorization of the core federal transportation program for the next five years. This marks a 56 percent increase over the current Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which was signed into law in 2015. The new five-year federal program is expected to deliver about $4.5 billion to the Bay Area through established formulas.
Many Bay Area transportation projects will also be able to compete for the $140 billion to be distributed nationwide over the next five years through various grant programs, including new federal programs that provide substantial funding for road safety (Vision Zero), transportation electrification, and climate protection/adaptation for transportation assets. A $4.5 billion set-aside to fund bridge repair projects across California will enable Bay Area cities and counties to compete for funds to upgrade bridges along local streets and roads.
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TAM 2020-21 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report
TAM undergoes a variety of independent financial and compliance audits and recently presented the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The report provides an easy-to-understand document with the FY 2020-21 financial statement, as well as historic trends and insights into the current economic outlook. Recipients of funding from TAM must allow independent compliance audits to verify that spending complies with voter approved expenditure plans. A presentation was created to provide a summary of the report findings and a snapshot of economic conditions as we emerge from the economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Caltrans Initiates Environmental Studies: SR-37 Flood Control Project (US-101 to SR-121)
Caltrans announced the beginning of environmental studies and a 30-day public comment period for the proposed project to improve State Route (SR) 37 from US-101 to SR-121. The project plans to elevate the roadway and reconstruct and/or replace bridges along SR-37 to reduce recurrent flooding and address anticipated effects from sea level rise from now through 2050.
Caltrans, as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), will prepare an Environmental Impact Report/ Environmental Assessment (EIR/EA) to analyze potential effects the proposed project may have on the environment. The public is encouraged to comment on the scope of the project and the EIR/EA. The comment period is open from November 3 to December 2. For more information about the project and to submit comments visit the project website. Comments can also be emailed to: SR37FloodProject@dot.ca.gov.
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Marin 101-580 Direct Connector Project
The TAM Marin 101-580 Direct Connector project team continues to meet with interested community groups and stakeholders to provide project information and receive valuable input from the public and elected officials. On November 3, TAM ED Anne Richman and the project team met with over 40 community members at a forum hosted by the Federation of San Rafael Neighborhoods. On November 15, the San Rafael City Council hosted a project study session also joined by approximately 40 community members. On November 18, the project team will provide a briefing to the Transportation Committee of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. Over the next couple of months, staff anticipates bringing information to the TAM Board. The project’s environmental analysis phase is expected to begin in 2022. The project team is available to make briefings to community groups on request. Please email marin101-580@tam.ca.gov if you are interested in scheduling a briefing.
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Congestion Management Program - Interactive Maps Available Online
As the Congestion Management Agency for Marin County, TAM maintains a Congestion Management Program (CMP) and an associated Transportation System Monitoring (TSM) Report. The TAM Board accepted the CMP and TSM report at the October 28 meeting. The 2020 Transportation System Monitoring Report provides insight into the performance of various arterial roadway and freeway segments and assists with key decisions on future investment of transportation dollars. Also included in the report is extensive bicycle and pedestrian monitoring data. This year, TAM added a new interactive map tool to visually show the roadway network and congestion levels determined in the CMP. You can get more background on the CMP by reading the staff report and the presentation from the October 28 meeting.
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Rediscover Your Commute!
Fall Campaign Encouraged Green Commute Habits
The Marin Commutes fall campaign started on October 11 and will end on November 21. The campaign encourages people who live or work in Marin County to make more green trips to/from work and errands. Green trips include transit, carpooling, vanpooling, walking, biking, and even saving a trip by working remotely. As people return to the workplace, the campaign encourages thoughtful commute and travel habits and promotes logging green trips for a chance to win weekly and grand prizes. Visit www.marincommutes.org/greentrips for information and trip logging tools.
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Final Plan Bay Area 2050
On October 21, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) adopted Plan Bay Area 2050 and its associated Environmental Impact Report. The unanimous votes by both boards cap a nearly four-year process with extensive engagement from the general public and transportation agencies including TAM.
The adopted final Plan Bay Area 2050, the EIR, and all the supplemental reports accompanying the new plan are available online at planbayarea.org/finalplan2050.
Defined by 35 strategies for housing, transportation, economic vitality and the environment, Plan Bay Area 2050 lays out a $1.4 trillion vision for policies and investments to make the nine-county region more affordable, connected, diverse, healthy, and economically vibrant for all its residents through 2050 and beyond.
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MTC Releases Annual Pavement Index Condition Report
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) released the 2020 Pavement Conditions Index (PCI) Report. The PCI provides a snapshot of the pavement health of a road. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 100, where 100 signifies a newly paved road. Many factors affect the PCI score including pavement age, climate and precipitation, traffic loads and available maintenance funding.
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In Marin County, Ross and Tiburon scored the highest with 77 points. Ross, Tiburon, Mill Valley, and Belvedere were grouped in the "Good" category, with Mill Valley jumping 5 points from 2019. The six jurisdictions in the "Fair" category include Novato, San Anselmo, Corte Madera, Marin County, and Sausalito. Larkspur and Fairfax trailed in the "At-Risk" category, although Larkspur has been making excellent progress with a 13-point increase since 2018. This 13 point difference between 2018 and 2020 is the greatest improvement of all Bay Area jurisdictions in the same time span. Overall, all jurisdictions combined in Marin scored 66 points and were grouped in the "Fair" category with a total of 2060 Lane Miles.
Pavement conditions on the Bay Area’s nearly 44,000 lane-miles of local streets and roads scored 67 for the fifth consecutive year, demonstrating the ongoing challenge to improve roadway condition.
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AB 43 Allows More Local Control Over Speed Limits
California Assembly Bill 43 was signed into law, allowing more flexibility for local jurisdictions to reduce speed limits. The law requires traffic surveyors to consider the presence of vulnerable groups, including children, seniors, the unhoused and persons with disabilities when setting speed limits. The current law sets speed limits based on the 85th percentile, the rate of speed of 85% of traffic on the roadway. This methodology has been questioned since it can lead to incrementally increasing speed limits rather than lowering speed limits to promote safety. The new law permits cities to lower speed limits below the 85th percentile on streets with high injuries and fatalities and provides for greater flexibility in setting lower speed limits around schools.
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