San Rafael, CA – Summertime is ideal for road work, and Marin County Department of Public Works (DPW) took advantage of the warm and dry weather by repaving roads across Marin County the past few months. In projects completed last week, a selection of five streets in Novato, San Rafael, and Larkspur were improved for the sum of $733,150. The work addressed issues ranging from deteriorated pavement to accessibility upgrades, and was funded by the county’s Road and Bridge Rehabilitation fund.
Roads crews have been busy working in all areas of the county the past few months.A 500-foot stretch of East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Larkspur, near San Quentin State Prison, received drainage improvement along the roadway shoulders. The existing shoulders did not drain properly and resulted in sheets of stormwater flowing across the road in the vicinity of the San Quentin Gun Range driveway. The shoulder area was adjusted to redirect surface water away from the road, and natural swales and a storm drain also were installed.
In the Bel Marin Keys neighborhood of unincorporated Novato, three streets were showing signs of extreme weathering and pavement cracking: Dolphin Isle, Del Oro Lagoon and Bermuda Harbour. The streets were resurfaced, sidewalks were leveled, and two accessible ramps were installed. Pavement markings were updated to meet new safety standards.
Crestview Way in the Santa Venetia area of San Rafael received 1,150 feet of new pavement, replacing the deteriorated surface material and base failures. The road also was identified as needing drainage improvements to handle the stormwater flow patterns for the region. An asphalt dike and swale were created to help increase traffic safety during the rainy season.
These road improvements add to a series of paving projects that occurred over the summer months. In West Marin, two miles of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, between Samuel P. Taylor State Park and Nicasio Valley Road, were repaved and upgraded with drainage improvements. The $2.2 million project was covered by $1.5 million from the County’s Road and Bridge Rehabilitation fund and $702,000 from the County’s Measure A sales tax allocation.
The entire half-mile length of Kentfield’s McAllister Avenue received new pavement for the sum of $950,000, paid for by the Road and Bridge Rehabilitation fund. The corridor is a major thoroughfare for parents and students when Anthony G. Bacich Elementary School and A.E. Kent Middle School are in session. Included in the project were various safety and accessibility enhancements for pedestrians, including a much-needed fix to a deteriorating section of sidewalk from Berens Drive to Bacich Elementary School.
A heavily worn, half-mile stretch of Marin City’s Donahue Street, a major public transportation artery that sees about 240 bus trips per day, got a significant makeover. The work included full repaving, curb and gutter enhancements, utility cover adjustments, and traffic signal upgrades. The $1.165 million project is 90 percent federally funded by a One Bay Area grant, with the remaining 10 percent being covered by the County’s Road and Bridge Rehabilitation fund.
Southern Marin is undergoing several paving projects that are expected to wrap up by early November. The Paradise Cay neighborhood streets of St. Thomas Way, Saba Lane, St. Lucia Place and Trinidad Drive were all showing various signs of deterioration. St. Thomas Way and St. Lucia Place are receiving end-to-end repaving, while the other two streets are having sections repaved. Additional accessibility ramps and minor drainage improvements are also being installed. Funding for the $1.125 million project came from the County’s Road and Bridge Rehabilitation fund.
With the wet winter season around the corner, much of the scheduled seasonal paving projects have been completed. DPW is already planning for next summer’s paving projects with the ultimate goal of improving road quality across all County-maintained roads, a priority supported by the Marin County Board of Supervisors. However, with the estimated $190 million cost of maintaining county roads over the next 10 years, funding is always a question and the planning process is a methodical one.
The Board annually commits $8.5 million for road improvements and, whenever possible, provides an extra boost, such as the $2 million infusion during the 2016-2017 fiscal year. A timely increase in funding will be coming soon from the statewide Road Repair and Accountability Act, also referred to as California Senate Bill 1. Enacted by California Governor Brown on April 28, 2017, the bill is expected to add an average of $4.1 million per year for improvements to County-maintained roads in Marin.