San Rafael, CA – The fundamental purpose of roads is to get travelers from point A to point B, safely. Marin County’s ongoing effort to improve roads has received a significant boost from several Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grants with total funding of $3.24 million. Marin County Department of Public Works (DPW) will use the awards to make safety improvements to key roads over the next couple of years.
Some of Marin’s older roads and bridges, such as Irving Bridge in Samuel P. Taylor State Park, are targeted for grant-funded safety improvements.Federal funds have been allocated and design work will soon begin on four County projects, identified by reviewing collision data reports from California Highway Patrol. One of the projects is the realignment of a hairpin turn at milepost 5.08 on Lucas Valley Road where several trucks have previously run off the road. The project is already moving forward with design and environmental studies to the tune of $220,000. The full cost of the curve realignment will be $1.35 million, of which 90 percent will come from the federal grant.
The other three safety improvement projects are entering the preliminary engineering phase. The projects will address safety signage across major county roads; add 1,500 feet of new guardrail along Panoramic Highway west of Pantoll Campground; and place skid-resistant pavement on nearly one mile of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard near White’s Hill. HSIP will cover $2.04 million of the estimated $2.27 million for the projects, and the difference will be met by the County Road and Bridge Fund.
“Road safety is a primary concern for the County,” said Bob Goralka, DPW Principal Civil Engineer. “This sizable grant enables us to accomplish these significant projects faster than local funding would allow.”
The federal-aid program is a data-driven, strategic approach to improving safety with the purpose reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries on public roads. Over the last nine years, DPW has received several HSIP grants which covered $615,000 of the total $644,200 for three completed projects. Also, HSIP has announced more than $1.5 million in additional funding for Marin County guardrail projects but funding for these projects has not been appropriated.