Dick Spotswood: With toll money freed, prioritize San Rafael freeway connector project

Marin motorists just received some good news. California’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal that, for five years, tied up funds generated by a toll increase on Bay Area’s Caltrans-managed bridges.

In 2018, 55% of Bay Area voters approved Regional Measure 3 authorizing toll hikes on all bay spans except the independently managed Golden Gate Bridge. The funds are directed at transit and highway infrastructure improvements. Over $546 million has been collected, but it was sequestered until this final appeal was resolved.

Most reports emphasized that much of the toll money will go to transit infrastructure. Not to be overlooked is that a good chunk of impounded toll funds will be spent on long-needed highway improvements in Marin County.

The most significant is the northbound connector between Highway 101 and Interstate 580 in San Rafael. Cars and trucks backed up on 101 waiting to cross the Bellam Boulevard stoplight before entering 580 to cross the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge creates one of the North Bay’s worst congestion points.

Creating a proper connector also incentivizes northbound freeway traffic headed toward the Richmond Bridge to avoid East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, remain on 101 and utilize the connector’s new flyover to efficiently cross the bay to Contra Costa County.

The post-pandemic trend toward remote working won’t decrease the need for the connector. The luxury of working from home part of each week isn’t an option for those Marin employees who must be physically present at their jobs. That’s a major segment of Marin’s workforce, due to our high cost of living and relatively less expensive East Bay homes.

The toll money will provide $125 million to move the 101-580 connector into gear. Getting California infrastructure projects completed isn’t easy. The IJ reports the connector project “is set to begin its environmental review and design phase, with construction expected to begin in 2030.”

That’s seven years before pick-and-shovel work starts. Needing seven years to prepare the final design and conduct an environmental review for this relatively modest project is preposterous.

Caltrans, the Transportation Authority of Marin and our state legislative delegation need to put their collective heads together, think outside the box and engage a “can-do” expeditor who is empowered to provide incentives, financial and otherwise, to cut through the red tape and bureaucratic inertia to get the connector’s construction underway by late 2025.

First term Tiburon Town Council member (and my old friend) Noah Griffin has resigned, effective immediately. Griffin’s wife, Meredith, is undergoing intense treatment for cancer. Griffin has his priorities right. As he confided, “I need to be with Meredith when she needs me and with the children.”

Griffin is just what Tiburon’s council needed: a fresh viewpoint. In recent years, Tiburon experienced multiple council resignations. If a future council vacancy arises, council members would be wise and fiscally prudent in reappointing Griffin to fill any potential opening without the need for an expensive special election.

On Feb. 9, the two candidates campaigning for an open seat on Mill Valley’s City Council will meet at an online candidates’ forum sponsored by the Marin Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers. Businesswoman Susan Gladwin will face off against attorney Caroline Joachim at 7 p.m. The forum is on Zoom. To register, go to COSTMarin.org. I am serving as the forum’s moderator.

The race is to fill the one-year unexpired term of Councilmember Sashi Sabaratnam, who resigned upon moving to Santa Rosa. The special election is March 7. In early February, all registered voters will receive a ballot in the mail. One issue that surely will arise is how Mill Valley will cope with the state’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation. It mandates a plan for 865 new housing units to be built by 2031.

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