Bill Text: CA ABX19 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - Died at Desk. [ABX19 Detail]
Download: California-2015-ABX19-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: ABX1 9 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Levine
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Baker, Bonilla, Bonta, Thurmond, and
Wood)
(Coauthors: Senators Allen and McGuire)
AUGUST 17, 2015
An act to add Section 30910.8 to the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 9, as introduced, Levine. Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
Existing law specifies the powers and duties of the Department of
Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and the
Bay Area Toll Authority with respect to the collection and
expenditure of toll revenue from the 7 state-owned toll bridges
within the geographic jurisdiction of the commission, including the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
This bill would require the department, immediately, or as soon as
practically feasible, but no later than September 30, 2015, to
implement an operational improvement project that temporarily
restores the third eastbound lane on State Highway Route 580 from the
beginning of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in the County of Marin
to Marine Street in the County of Contra Costa to automobile traffic
and that temporarily converts a specified portion of an existing
one-way bicycle lane along the north side of State Highway Route 580
in the County of Contra Costa into a bidirectional bicycle and
pedestrian lane. The bill would require the department to keep the
temporary lanes in place until the department has completed a
specified project relating to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge or until
construction activity for that project necessitates removal of the
temporary lanes.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge opened on September
1, 1956. At the time of construction, the bridge was one of the
longest bridges in the world and was constructed at a cost of $62
million.
(b) The initial construction, with the help of additional funding
provided by the state (Chapter 159 of the Statutes of 1955), provided
for the construction of six 12-foot-wide lanes. The six lanes were
initially comprised of three lanes in both the eastbound and
westbound directions.
(c) In 1977, the then little-used third lane on the Richmond-San
Rafael Bridge was closed to allow for a pipeline to transport eight
million gallons of water a day from the East Bay Municipal Utility
District to drought-stricken Marin County. In 1978, the pipeline was
removed and the third lane was restriped as an emergency shoulder.
(d) In 1989, following the Loma Prieta earthquake and the closure
of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge from October 17 to November
18, inclusive, the third lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was
opened in both the eastbound and westbound directions to help ease
traffic flow across the bay.
(e) The possibility of permanently reopening the Richmond-San
Rafael Bridge to bicycle and pedestrian access has been debated for
more than three decades since the 1977 closure of the third lane. In
2001, plans for bicycle access were rejected by the Department of
Transportation for safety reasons. Alternative plans to open the
bridge to bicycle and pedestrian access that address safety are
currently under development.
(f) The total estimated cost of permanently reopening the third
lane in the eastbound direction on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge,
reconfiguring the bike path on the east side of the bridge, and
constructing a bike path on the westbound level of the bridge is $65
million.
(g) In the interest of improving traffic flow, maximizing existing
resources, and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from the
traffic backup on the eastbound bridge approach that impacts traffic
on Highway 101, it is necessary that the third lane of the bridge be
reopened to traffic at the earliest possible date.
SEC. 2. Section 30910.8 is added to the Streets and Highways Code,
to read:
30910.8. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall
immediately, or as soon as practically feasible, but no later than
September 30, 2015, implement an operational improvement project that
does the following:
(1) Temporarily restores the third eastbound lane on State Highway
Route 580 that existed prior to 1977 and that was temporarily
restored immediately following the Loma Prieta earthquake, from the
beginning of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in the County of Marin to
Marine Street in the County of Contra Costa to automobile traffic.
(2) Temporarily converts the existing one-way bicycle lane along
the north side of westbound State Highway Route 580 from the Marine
Street interchange to Stenmark Drive and the toll plaza in the County
of Contra Costa into a bidirectional bicycle and pedestrian lane.
(b) The department shall keep the temporary third automobile lane
and the temporary bidirectional bicycle lane in place until the
department has completed the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Access
Improvement Project (RTP ID 240758) or until construction activity
for that project necessitates removal of the temporary lanes.
(c) (1) For the duration of the operation of the temporary third
automobile lane, the department shall determine, according to a
competent engineering analysis, the maximum speed that can be
maintained with safety in the eastbound direction and shall post that
maximum speed at appropriate locations. If the department determines
that the maximum speed is less than the currently posted maximum
speed, then the department shall, at the time that the temporary
third automobile lane is restored, have in place appropriate devices
to alert drivers to the lower speed, which may include, but are not
limited to, raised pavement markings, flashing lights, temporary
electronic message signs, and any other means that the department
deems necessary.
(2) For the duration of the operation of the temporary
bidirectional bicycle lane, the department shall install appropriate
signage indicating that the lane is bidirectional. The department may
place a temporary barrier between the temporary bidirectional
bicycle lane and the automobile lanes.
(d) Concurrent with the implementation and operation of the
temporary third automobile lane and the temporary bidirectional
bicycle lane, the department and the Bay Area Toll Authority shall
continue, without delay, current efforts to develop and deliver the
permanent Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Access Improvement Project (RTP
ID 240758).
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to temporarily restore the third eastbound automobile
lane of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to automobile traffic at the
earliest possible date, it is necessary for this act to take effect
immediately.
