Corte Madera path project gets $60K funding boost

The Corte Madera Town Council has approved an additional $60,000 to complete a path project along Paradise Drive.

The project will place a 1,700-foot pedestrian and bicycle path from Westward Drive to Robin Drive. It also will include crosswalks and striping improvements.

The road segment is adjacent to Marin Country Day School and Marin Montessori School but has no sidewalk.

“We’ve gotten a lot of requests over the years,” said Chris Good, the director of public works. “Paradise Drive, people drive really fast and currently there’s just the dirt shoulder that a lot of times has cars parked in them. So anyone walking along the road is basically right along the edge of it.”

The construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2027 and be completed within the year.

The project has been in the works since 2021 but has hit several delays in recent years.

In March 2023, the town received a federal grant of about $2 million through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The estimated construction cost at the time was about $2.75 million.

The grant required the town to work with Caltrans to conduct a National Environmental Policy Act clearance and a right of way clearance, as well as complete several other federal obligations.

Good said the National Environmental Policy Act requirements imposed more than $100,000 in unexpected costs, necessitating additional project funding. The public works department was able to use some reserve funds to partially cover the costs. About $43,000 of the additional funding from the town will be used to cover the rest of the costs, and the remaining $17,000 will be reserved for any further unforeseen requirements.

Two other snags have delayed the project. One is the need to relocate several Pacific Gas & Electric Co. poles, and the utility cannot do that until the town has completed all the NEPA requirements.

The other snag is a conflict with the Marin Audubon Society, which owns a portion of land that would be affected by the project. The town said it met with Marin Audubon Society board members on several occasions to discuss the grading work.

Barbara Salzman, the board president, said the organization was not notified that the town planned to work on its land until the designs had been completed.

A town staff report says the Marin Audubon Society threatened legal action against the project in letters to the town and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Salzman said she “would not put it that way” and that the organization “did not threaten to sue.”

“Our opposition was that at the very last minute we learned that they were going to put fill on our property as part of raising up the road,” she said.

The town is changing its plans to avoid any effects on the organization’s property. The town said the changes will impact the long-term flood protection of the project and require a permit addendum with the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

The completed plans will be shared with the organization and made publicly available, according to Good. Salzman said the group is waiting to review the designs and still has a number of questions about the potential impacts.