Construction work begins Aug. 1 on an environmentally sensitive rehabilitation project for 3.75 miles of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard that runs through Samuel P. Taylor State Park in West Marin.
The project consists of resurfacing the road between Irving Bridge –- roughly 1.5 miles west of the east entrance to the state park -- and Platform Bridge Road –- roughly two miles west of the west entrance. Workers, who will fix 55 storm drainage culverts, plan to use a slip-lining method of inserting new pipes into existing old pipes under the road that eliminates excavation in the environmentally sensitive area. The method also reduces disruption to traffic and cuts costs.
Endangered Coho salmon, which spawn in the creek adjacent to this section of Drake Boulevard, will benefit from the project as well. The rehabilitation of eroded culverts and road shoulders will improve water quality and fish spawning habitat.
The project is Phase 2 of a rehab effort on a stretch of Drake Boulevard that is more than 80 years old. In Phase 1, conducted in summer 2012, about 1.25 miles of damaged road between Shafter Bridge and Irving Bridge in Lagunitas was repaired as well as sections at Platform Bridge Road near Point Reyes Station. The first phase involved repairing an area damaged by a slide on the edge of the road, just west of Shafter Bridge. Phase 2 is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
Ghilotti Construction Inc. of Santa Rosa was awarded a $3,611,680 contract for Phase 2 of the project on June 18. The project is funded entirely by Measure A sales tax revenue designated for West Marin.
“Given the wide praise that the first phase of the SFD reconstruction generated, I’m confident that whatever inconvenience this summer’s work causes, the result will be a historic change that respects the sensitivity of the environment it moves through,” said Marin County District 4 Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who represents the area where the work is scheduled.