Alta led a major bikeway planning and design project for the City of San Rafael, part of the North-South Bikeway in Marin County, and funded by the
Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Project. The six-block corridor through Downtown San Rafael connects two major pathways, and required a solution that worked in a dense built environment with numerous traffic, roadway, and other constraints. Alta designed a combination of pedestrian walkway, on-street bike lanes on side streets, and intersection control improvements to provide seamless and safe bicycle access through the corridor. Alta's work included preliminary engineering, streetscape design, agency coordination, stakeholder facilitation, and public workshops. The project is regionally significant due to its proximity to the San Rafael Transit Center and also the future Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) station. The project design responded to the constraints presented by these transportation-related land uses and improved multi-modal transportation connectivity.
In February 2009 the City Council approved concepts for Alta's design for the downtown bikeway. The Puerto Suello and Mahon Creek Projects consisted of connecting two multi-use pathways through a dense downtown area including a busy transit center and a future commuter rail station. The project was physically complex, requiring trade-offs between differing routes and bikeway types. An active and sophisticated advisory committee assisted in evaluating options. The two main alternatives, using a quiet side street (Tamalpais Avenue) with three unprotected crossings or modifying a busier street (Hetherton St.), had most if not all of the issues facing professionals in our field today. They key to resolving the trade-offs was the use of clear project goals and evaluation criteria. In this case, the Hetherton Street alignment was selected (see photo rendering.) The recommendation also included developing a bicycle boulevard treatment, and new right turn signal controls.
