Dick Spotswood: Richmond Bridge movable barrier ‘pilot program’ is a waste of time

When a government bureaucracy wants to do something that’s of dubious popularity, they call it a “pilot project.” The odds are great that it will eventually become permanent.

That’s what we are seeing in the seemingly never-ending saga regarding the upper deck bikeway on the 5.5-mile Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

The just-ended four-year pilot program studied the 2019 conversion of the westbound upper deck’s “breakdown” lane into a 24/7 bikeway. The lane was once the site of the water pipeline installed during the 1977 drought. That pipeline has long been gone. For decades, the lane has been used for bridge maintenance and auto pull-offs.

In the ensuing years, traffic congestion on the bridge has dramatically increased. So far, it’s taken four years to learn the real-world implications of having a bike lane, rather than a breakdown lane, from Contra Costa County to Marin.

As the IJ reports, the pilot program “shows that about 35 to 80 bicyclists use the bridge during peak hours on weekdays and about 120 to 260 on the weekends. The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission reports “Winter traffic is around 25% to 40% lower than summer activity.” According to their survey, “about 85% of respondents said they used the path for recreation and exercise, whereas 14% said it was their commute route.”

One argument for the bikeway had been that it would facilitate non-auto commuting. That never happened. If 14% of transbay cyclists use the bikeway to travel to and from work, then about five to 11 cyclists use the bridge to commute on an average weekday.

Simultaneously, 80,000 vehicles cross the bridge on weekdays. Since some autos and all buses carry more than one person, the actual number of people in vehicles that cross the span greatly exceeds 80,000.

It’s frustrating that the BCDC, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans prioritize 11 bike riders over more than 80,000 women and men who travel the bridge by car or bus.

The bikeway has unintended negative consequences.

It potentially penalizes tens of thousands of working people, many from historically economically disadvantaged communities. BCDC reports that the lower deck eastbound third lane, which was opened to vehicle traffic in 2019, cut 17 minutes from afternoon weekday commute time. That’s a savings of 66 hours annually since the average commuter works 235 days a year.

The 24/7 bikeway has a negative environmental impact. Without a breakdown lane, there are a massive number of vehicles stopped in traffic whenever there is a wreck or stall impacting one or both of the westbound lanes. Those cars emit tons of carbon-based pollutants. Having a pull-off lane or, better yet, a third westbound lane open to vehicles, would make a big difference.

On regional “alphabet” agency boards, there’s pressure to “go along to get along.” The appointed or indirectly elected commissioners understand they can move up the ladder to board president only if they play the game. It’s a temptation that causes usually sensible commissioners to go along with follies like the bridge bikeway.

Now, as the four-year 24/7 bikeway pilot program ends, BCDC and MTC are suggesting a second multi-year pilot program.

They’re proposing to retain the bikeway except, “the 10-foot wide, barrier-protected path would be removed from 9 p.m. Sunday through 2 p.m. Thursday to free the shoulder on the westbound upper deck for emergencies. … A bike shuttle would transport cyclists when the path is closed.” There’d be no vehicle access at any time.

There’s a commonsense compromise which commissioners have spurned: Retain the bikeway on weekends for recreational travelers. After retrofitting the lane for vehicles, shift the movable barrier on weekdays so that cars and trucks can use it (like on the lower eastbound deck).

It’s foolhardy to waste another four years on a second pilot program that will report what everyone already knows: The bikeway is a fiasco. BCDC and MTC commissioners need to do their duty on behalf of their more than 80,000 transbay commuting constituents by approving the bike-auto compromise.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.