From: Jana Zanetto
Sent: Sunday, March 3, 2024 10:52 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: March 4, 2024 City Council Meeting Agenda Item 5.A March 4, 2024
City of San Rafael
City Council
1400 Fifth Ave
San Rafael, CA 94901
RE: March 4, 2024 City Council Meeting Agenda Item 5.A
Dear City Council members,
We are writing today regarding the Golden Gate Bridge,
Highway, and Transportation District’s (GGBHTD) San
Rafael Transit Center Relocation Project, which will have a major impact in our San Rafael community. We believe
that a major factor in the transit center’s success will be ensuring a positive walking and biking experience there.
Because biking and walking is a major way people get to transit in Marin, the better this experience is, the more people will use the system(s)--which will help attain the City’s and County’s Climate, Sustainability and
congestion goals.
Here are our recommendations to you and the GGBHTD:
1. Continue the community stakeholder engagement
process:
We are very pleased with the progress, engagement and
conceptual design at this stage of the Transit
Center project process. Kudos to GGBHTD and partner
agencies for the collaboration and community outreach
thus far--it is greatly appreciated! Moving forward there are a lot of details to figure out and design issues to resolve. We ask that the City and GGBHTD continue
community stakeholder engagement throughout the next
phases of design.
2. Begin planning and designing connections to the
Transit Center outside of the project site:
We ask the City to begin to plan and design safe bike and pedestrian connections to the Transit Center through
downtown, specifically north to Mission Street (to the
North-South Greenway along Highway 101) and east and
west, especially to Grand Avenue, which connects to the Canal neighborhood. These are already included in the
current 2018 Bike/Ped Master Plan (projects D-1 and D-2) and should be
prioritized and also included in the updated 2024
Bike/Ped Master Plan.
3. Evaluate the reconfiguration or removal of the
proposed alleyway west of the new Transit Center
The small proposed alleyway seems unnecessary and adds
more conflicts between cars, trucks,
pedestrians and cyclists. Figuring out a way to meet the needs of private property access and access to the
Transit Center without a new street, while potentially
using the land to enlarge the plaza would be a major
benefit to the community and more comfortable for
people walking and biking to the Center. We suggest
multiple pickup & dropoff locations around the Transit
Center instead of just one. This would distribute this
activity rather than concentrate it, causing congestion and conflicts.
4. Plan the bikeway through the Transit Center at “above the curb” and not at street level
We advocate for either Option 1 “Sidewalk Level Bike
Path” or Option 3 “Shared Use Trail” and not Option 2
“Bike Lane at Street Level” as presented by the GGBHTD.
Option 2 creates unnecessary tripand crash hazards by
locating the bike path below the sidewalk curb and bus
platform curb.
5. Provide secure bike parking
We ask that the GGBHTD provide meaningful, high
visibility, integrated, and secure bike parking as part of the project so that transit users can bike to the Transit Center. Secure bike parking contributes to improved
access and utilization of transit by providing important and convenient “last mile” connections
for users.
Thank you for your consideration of our suggestions. And we'd like to thank you for your work on the project so far as well as for your dedication to making San Rafael an
amazing
place to live and work!
Best wishes,
Jana and Jeff Zanetto
Lincoln Hill, San Rafael
March 4, 2024
San Rafael City Council
1400 Fifth Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
RE: San Rafael Transit Center
Honorable Mayor and Council Members,
Sustainable San Rafael has been pleased to serve on the Community Design Advisory Group for the new Transit Center. The conceptual design before you tonight includes the following key elements needed for success, all of which call for continued community involvement to realize their full potential to create a welcoming gateway to downtown San Rafael:
• Integrated transit operations of both buses and trains on a single block. The flow and connections among providers will benefit from passenger input.
• Distinctive paving demarking passenger areas from bus zones, including quick and easy pathways between buses, trains, and amenities. Again, user input is needed to fully realize this concept.
• A restored transit depot including many historical elements from the 1929 depot. The dimensions, degree of enclosure, and interior uses merit further discussion with the public and historical advocates.
• A landmark quality bus canopy near Hetherton. Detailed design development and review are needed to assure the
success of this primary gateway feature.
• Integration of the multi-use path North-South Greenway in a manner recognizing the primacy of passenger and pedestrian use of the Transit Center needs discussion. (See attached 12/13/23 letter and exhibit.)
• Tall trees framing the Center and setting a natural character.
Plant selection will need careful review.
• Avoiding more traffic congestion by reconsidering the proposed new 4th Street intersection behind the depot and finding alternative car drop-off zones.
Thank you for guiding this important project to support transit service and create a compelling gateway to downtown San Rafael.
Sincerely,
William Carney,
Vice President
Attachments: SSR 12/13/23 letter and exhibit
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Annika Osborn, CoPresident
Howard Schwartz, CoPresident
William Carney, Vice
President
Miles Smith, Secretary
Greg Brockbank
Kay Karchevski
Kiki La Porta
Phil Muller
Stuart Siegel
415.302.0110
December 13, 2023
Raymond Santiago Principle Planner
Golden Gate Bridge and Transportation District
1011 Andersen Drive
San Rafael, CA 94901
RE: Transportation Committee Update on San Rafael Transit Center Dear Raymond,
Please convey the following comments for the Transportation Committee's consideration during its meeting this week. Sustainable San Rafael has appreciated the opportunity to work with the District during the years of public involvement in the conceptualizing, design, and review of the proposed San Rafael Transit Center. Much progress has been made towards an exemplary project at the gateway to downtown San Rafael.
We remain concerned that pedestrians and passengers need to be given priority in all aspects of the design, especially those relating to bicycle access. To that end, we strongly endorse the multi-use Option 3 presented at the December 6 public workshop for treatment of bike access at the public plaza fronting the east side of the restored Depot building. This option would integrate bikes and pedestrians in a single shared space, with signage and textured paving to signal cyclists that the space is predominately pedestrian, requiring appropriate speed and care to be exercised by all users.
The multi-use option corresponds with the multi-use bicycle and pedestrian path included in the 2008 SMART ballot authorization, which is fulfilled by the North-South Greenway multi-use path through San Rafael. The one block in the Greenway with the most pedestrian use should likewise be treated with the greatest respect for those on foot as they access buses, trains and the Depot that serves all passengers.
Thank you for your consideration and support of this option.
Sincerely,
William Carney
President, Sustainable San Rafael
Copies:
San Rafael City Council
Cristine Alilovich, San Rafael City Manager
Exhibit A: Amsterdam train station
This photo shows the transition of a separated bike path into a heavily used pedestrian area, in which bikes and pedestrians share a single space. Signage and textured paving signal cyclists that the space is predominately pedestrian, requiring appropriate speed and care to be exercised by all users.