A Day to Celebrate

Safe Passage along Lucas Valley Road Ribbon Cutting Celebration December 16, 2012

Marin IJ - Readers Forum - Sunday, December 2, 2012

Sidewalk safety project

In the Nov. 13 editorial, "Tragic reminder to drivers of need to be careful," the IJ urged Novato officials, and all leaders in Marin, to make our streets safer for our children, and for all pedestrians and bicyclists. As co-directors of the newly completed Safe Passage along Lucas Valley Road project, we applaud those efforts.

As we approach our Dec. 16 ribbon cutting celebration for the Safe Passage along Lucas Valley Road Project, we pause to think of the seven near fatal accidents over the past 3½ years. Mark MacMillan, Monique Petrov and Emma Ramshaw lived to tell us about their accidents, but their lives were changed forever.

Without doubt, there have been many more incidents, some fatal, on this popular two-lane county road burdened with trucks, emergency vehicles, commuters, visitors, motorcyclists, athletes, cyclists and pedestrians.

Our project was launched in 2006, when we noticed school children walking dangerously close to speeding traffic on Lucas Valley Road. Over the past six years, we spent thousands of hours gathering community support, walking with officials along this route to point out the dangers, and with dozens of volunteers, clearing the brush back to enable pedestrians to walk off the pavement, rather than on the street.

The success of this project is proof that volunteer action works! We are so grateful to our dedicated community members and to San Rafael and county officials for stepping up to provide a safe sidewalk along Lucas Valley Road.

You are invited to join us for the ribbon cutting celebration on Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. at Las Gallinas Avenue and Lucas Valley Road. Our blog address: safepassagealonglucasvalleyroad.blogspot.com.

Carolyn Lenert and Ray Lorber, 

Co-Directors, Safe Passage along Lucas Valley Road