Call to Action: Save the Bike Path on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

The board of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), part of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, will hear testimony Thursday/tomorrow May 2 on whether or not to ban anyone not in a motor-vehicle from crossing the Bay between Richmond and San Rafael.

From Bike East Bay’s web page:

… the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) will consider closing the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trail all day every Monday through Thursday to make space for a car break-down lane, leaving it open to people walking, biking, and rolling on Fridays through Sundays only.

This proposal is unsupported by evidence and counter to many adopted plans and policies on the regional and state levels. We need your support to push back against this proposal and let the BCDC know that 24/7 bridge trail access is a priority!

As Streetsblog has reported previously, the Bay Area Council and “Get the Richmond Bridge Moving” have run a staggeringly deceitful campaign to try and remove bike and ped access from the bridge. In a throw-spaghetti-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks strategy, these car-brained charlatans have tried to claim bikes cause pollution and that somehow not opening all six lanes of the bridge to cars (as opposed to five) discriminates against African Americans.

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition has put together the following talking points for people who want to write in, call in, or show up in person to address the commissioners:

• Curtailing the path is a step in the wrong direction for our transportation system
• This would effectively remove four miles of Bay Trail, more than has been built in the last six years combined
• Adding more car capacity to the bridge will not reduce congestion
• Transit on the bridge is limited and stops running at 10 p.m.
• There are no other bike/pedestrian crossings of the Bay for at least 20 miles in either direction

The MCBC has also put together a series of interviews with people who depend on the bridge path.

The meeting again is tomorrow, Thursday, May 2, starting at 1 p.m. at Metro Center, 375 Beale St., Board Room, San Francisco. Can’t make it? Check out Bike East Bay’s page for information on how to comment remotely or via email.

And if you bike there, note the nearest secure bike parking is the BikeLink location on Beale Street on the northern end of the Salesforce Transit Center. Unfortunately, MTC itself, the supposed shepherds of eco-friendly transportation, only provides this: