1 January 20, 2026
Mayor Kate Colin San Rafael City Council
Vice Mayor Rachel Kertz 1400 Fifth Street
Councilmember Maika Gulati San Rafael, CA 94901
Councilmember Maribeth Bushey
Councilmember Eli Hill
RE: January 20, 2026 San Rafael City Council Meeting — Items not on Agenda Dear San Rafael City Council,
Every time someone is killed on our streets while simply trying to get from A to B it is a tragedy.
It is a particular tragedy when someone is killed while walking or riding a bike, modes of active transportation that people are encouraged to utilize because of their great societal and environmental benefits.
And so the death of Lucia Jennifer Blandina Sontay Vicente last Wednesday while crossing Point San Pedro Road in the crosswalk at Summit Avenue is a terrible tragedy. We understand that there is a plan to install a HAWK signal at this location. That might save future lives, but it will not bring back Ms. Vicente’s.
We also acknowledge that the location of the crash that took Ms. Vicente’s life was outside San Rafael City Limits, in one of several segments of Point San Pedro Road that is in the unincorporated County of Marin. Traveling along Point San Pedro Road, one passes back and forth between City and County seven times. Improving safety on Point San Pedro Road must be tackled at the corridor level which means cross-jurisdictional coordination between the City of San Rafael and County of Marin. In fact, this type of cross-jurisdictional problem-solving is exactly what Marin’s Countywide Transportation Plan calls for.
The problems on Point San Pedro Road are many. The road is wider than it should be. The fourlane divided highway is a relic of a different era when planners assumed that all of Marin would be built up with development. The traffic on Point San Pedro Peninsula today does not warrant 2 two lanes in each direction. Modern traffic engineering holds that Average Daily Traffic of 20,000 vehicles is needed to warrant two lanes in each direction, and no traffic counts show Point San Pedro Road having that level of traffic. The current design of Point San Pedro Road encourages drivers to speed and treat the road as a freeway, when in reality it is an essential neighborhood street, the official designated route of the San Francisco Bay Trail, and the only way for many neighborhoods to access Downtown San Rafael by foot or bicycle. The posted Maximum Speed Limit is 45 mph, but many drivers go faster than this.
Bike lanes exist in piecemeal form. They drop off at random locations, forcing bicyclists to “take the lane” and compete with 45-55 mph traffic, including full cement trucks from the quarry.
Sidewalks are narrow and pedestrian crossings are few and far between. Where they do exist, they are often unprotected, with pedestrians facing 4 lanes of high speed traffic to cross the street. This was the case at the location of last week’s fatal crash. There is a crosswalk at Summit Avenue, but no flashing beacons to warn drivers of crossing pedestrians.
We urge the City of San Rafael to join with the County of Marin and dedicate a new Safety Project to make the entire Point San Pedro Road corridor safer and more welcoming to all modes of transportation. Specific recommendations include:
1. Reduce the speed limit. AB 43 and its companion AB 1014 provide California cities with much more leeway than they used to have when it comes to lowering speed limits on dangerous corridors. According to the Marin County Local Road Safety Plan, Point San Pedro Road is on the High Collision Networks in both the City of San Rafael and Unincorporated County of Marin. It should qualify as a Priority Safety Corridor under these laws which should enable the City and County to reduce the speed limit across the entire corridor. Every mph makes a difference when someone is hit by a moving vehicle.
Even reducing speeds by 5-10 mph can save lives and reduce severe injuries.
2. Reduce the two lanes to one in each direction. Current traffic demand does not warrant two lanes in each direction. Reducing the number of lanes would allow for continuous protected bike lanes the entire length of the corridor. These protected bike lanes could be designed to allow emergency vehicle access during emergencies or twoway vehicle egress during an evacuation. Parking would be unaffected.
3. Pedestrian crossing improvements intersections corridor-wide. Many interventions could be designed to improve pedestrian crossing safety, including curb extensions to shorten sidewalks. Curb extensions can also be designed for less money using Quick Build methods. Improved lighting, both overhead and pedestrian crossing lights, 3 improve visibility of pedestrians as well as awareness of crossing pedestrians by drivers.
Several crosswalks could benefit from median pedestrian refuge islands (including the one at Summit Ave.).
Thank you for your consideration.
Matthew Hartzell
Director of Planning, WTB-TAM
CC April Miller, San Rafael Public Works Director
Joanna Kwok, San Rafael Deputy Public Works Director
Cristine Alilovich, San Rafael City Manager
Mary Sackett, Marin County Supervisor for District 1
Julia Reinhard, Aide to Mary Sackett
Chris Blunk, Marin County Public Works Director
Sahar Shirazi, Marin County Principal Planner