San Rafael, CA – A section of Fairfax-Bolinas Road, which has been closed since a March 11 mudslide, will be reopened to traffic Friday. But another section of the rural and hilly two-lane road – a key artery for some West Marin residents – will be closed until later this year because of extensive engineering and construction work required to make passage safe.
One slide covered half of Fairfax-Bolinas Road near Kent Pump Road.
The Marin County
Department of Public Works
(DPW) said Fairfax-Bolinas Road will be opened at some point Friday between its Shoreline Highway junction at the north end of Bolinas Lagoon and Ridgecrest Road on Mount Tamalpais. The road will remain closed to vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians between Ridgecrest and the Meadow Club in Fairfax, a stretch of about eight miles.
There is good news for hikers, however: On Monday, a new gate will be added just west of the Meadow Club at the Azalea Hill parking lot opening up an additional 1.3 miles of road to allow easier access to Marin Municipal Water District trailheads.
This week, crews have focused on removing debris to mitigate further damage and allow geotechnical experts and engineers to assess what caused the slides and what preventative measures will be needed to prevent future slides from happening in the same locations.
The root of the closure is three slides between Azalea Hill and Ridgecrest, a stretch of nearly seven miles. County roads crews and engineers said permitting, contracting and funding requirements will take a while to secure. “New sections of the road, shoulders and barriers need to be designed, bid and built,” said Ernest Klock, a DPW Principal Civil Engineer. “There are some locations that will need reinforcements via pilings and concrete walls. It’s not something that can be safely done in a matter of days.”
County DPW has jurisdictional responsibilities on road maintenance in unincorporated Marin except for state and federal highways.