August 21, 2009
Mr. Ray Lorber and Ms. Carolyn Lenert
Safe Passage Along Lucas Valley Road
5 Upper Oak Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903
Dear Ray and Carolyn:
Transportation Alternatives for Marin (“TAM”) is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote pedestrian
and bicycle transportation, particularly in the United States. This
mission is advanced through the promotion of Marin County,
California as a model community of pedestrian and bicycle
transportation, and the demonstration that investment in integrated
bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, combined with education,
can relieve a substantial portion of the overall transportation load.
TAM has long been a proponent of multi-use paths, single
directional bike paths, and sidewalks on each side of Lucas Valley
Road from Westgate to McGinnis Park.
Recently, neighbors have come together to promote a segment of
this larger project to create a safe passage along Lucas Valley
Road from Las Gallinas to Los Gamos Road. TAM fully supports
these efforts to build a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists
along Lucas Valley Road between Las Gallinas Avenue and
Los Gamos Drive. The community already uses this routing,
which demonstrates its need. However, present conditions are
unsafe.
The traffic accidents near the 101 Lucas Valley Road office
complex suffered by Emma Ramshaw while she was biking
along this corridor and Mark MacMillanwhile he was walking
along Lucas Valley Road can only be prevented byutilizing a
safe and separate multiuse pathway along Lucas Valley
Road from Las Gallinas to Los Gamos on the south side of
Lucas Valley Road. Mark was hit by a truck on
March 23, 2007 and is still in rehabilitation.
The lack of street lighting is an additional safety hazard.
The County of Marin and the City of San Rafael need to
come together to resolve the boundary issue. This issue
continues to hinder resolution of the dangerous existing
conditions.
Mr. Ray Lorber and Ms. Carolyn Lenert
August 21, 2009
Page 2
TAM considers completion of the (Las Gallinas to Los Gamos)
corridor a key project for Marin County and the City of
San Rafael. The larger project is to connect
Las Gallinas/The North South Bikeway and McGinnis.
This can be done with a Caltrans Class I Bike Single
Directional bike path, or a Caltrans multi-use path on
each side of Lucas Valley Road.
TAM supports your efforts to improve the safety of the
corridor along Lucas Valley Road. Thank you for
encouraging healthy and safe non-motorized transportation
for our community.
Very truly yours,
Patrick M. Seidler
President
