Caltrans revises Tiburon Boulevard makeover
Jun. 6—Caltrans will expand its plans and timeline to upgrade Tiburon Boulevard, the agency told an overflow crowd at a forum this week.
The announcement on Wednesday came after local officials, bus services, homeowner groups and cycling advocates criticized the project over safety concerns. Caltrans wants to add bikes lanes in both directions on the thoroughfare.
"We have to work more with you guys to flesh out all of these issues and figure out what is really the best project," said Wajahat Nyaz, Caltrans district deputy director of design. "So our proposal line right now is to phase it, to do it in two phases."
Phase one, starting in January, would repave the road, slightly narrow traffic lanes, add bike lanes and modify bus stops, traffic signals and crosswalks. Phase two would further remodel bus stops for accessibility and move bike lanes behind the bus stops.
The alternative was to postpone and redesign the project, Nyaz said, but that would risk losing $12.7 million that has been appropriated.
Tiburon Mayor Holli Thier announced that Caltrans would also install broadband infrastructure in phase one, which would benefit schools, businesses and residents, and enable traffic lights to detect vehicles and adjust their timing to ease congestion.
Thier and Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters, who helped organize the forum, both said the expanded project should proceed.
"We may not solve everything tonight and I'm aware if that," Moulton-Peters said. "I think we can find a way to make it work."
The forum filled Tiburon Town Hall. City and school officials from Belvedere and Mill Valley attended. Ninety-seven people signed up to speak. Before their remarks, Caltrans presented its revised plans.
In phase one, new bike lanes would line the highway. In phase two, which is several years away, the bus stops would be rebuilt as pedestrian islands. The adjacent bike lanes would be moved behind them.
Most comments amplified the conflicting stances taken in extensive letter-writing campaigns.
Critics cited safety issues from the bike lanes' proximity to cars. Those testifying said the mile-plus stretch west from Trestle Glen Boulevard posed the greatest risk and should be removed from the project.
"I oppose, believe it or not, this limited section of the bike path," said Rich Steele, a Tiburon resident and longtime bike commuter. "I think a lot of people here are opposing that, and I don't want that to be misread as opposition to the entire project."
Reed Union School District board members, its superintendent, and Belvedere Vice Mayor Sally Wilkinson said adding bike lanes next to bus stops would be unsafe for young students. Moreover, the district's school bus service has said that it would not cross bike lanes to pick up students.
"Kids won't be able to get to school anymore because our bus provider has said they will not stop in bike lanes," Wilkinson said.
The largest bloc of supporters testifying were residents on Greenwood Beach Road, which follows Tiburon Boulevard and is an alternative route. They cited bike accidents, fears of hitting riders as they exited driveways and growing traffic from bike tours and e-bikes.
"It would be crazy to turn down the opportunity to put bike lanes on Tiburon Boulevard," Bruce Abbott said. "I personally have witnessed the aftermath of at least five serious bicycle accidents in front of my house. By that, I mean people who fell off their bikes and got bloodied up."
"The best thing that anybody can do to improve the traffic situation is to build the bike lanes," said Matthew Hartzell, director of planning for WTB-TAM, a biking advocacy group. "Every additional trip made by a bicycle is not a trip made by a car."
Mill Valley Councilmember Urban Carmel said extending the bike lanes across Highway 101 so hundreds of students could cycle to middle and high school was "the most important project that we can complete for the 30,000 residents of Mill Valley in the next five years."
Last fall, a study commissioned by Tiburon found that 2,000 cars use the road during peak weekday commutes. A 2022 report by the Transportation Authority of Marin found that two dozen bikes use the road during this time. That increases to 109 bikes daily for weekdays and 263 bikes daily on weekends.
After the comments, Caltrans agreed to convene a "task force" of stakeholders as it finishes phase one's design and begins phase two.
Originally Published: June 5, 2025 at 4:59 PM PDT
© 2025 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.). Visit www.marinij.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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