The Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted Thursday to move closer to closing bike access to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and turning the entire bridge over to drivers. But the fight is far from over. As the Marin County Bicycle Coalition's Warren Wells explained, all that got approved was "a procedural vote by the MTC board to formally request that the multiuse path be converted to a shoulder M-Th."
Today @MTCBATA voted to proceed w plans to close the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge path for a breakdown shoulder 4 days/week, w no discussion & little public comment, ignoring the 70+ transportation & sustainability orgs that have signed the coalition letter to keep the path open.👇 pic.twitter.com/TftxnuBpT0
— Robert Prinz (@prinzrob) May 22, 2024
Fortunately, the MTC board doesn't have the last word, because the Bay Conservation and Development Commission must issue a permit for any changes to the bike lane. The governance structure is complicated, but Wells further explains what comes next in this tweet:
Ultimately it will be up to BCDC, who holds authority over all baylands, to grant, reject, or modify the permit.
— Warren J. Wells, AICP 🚴🏙️🦀 (@WarrenJWells) May 23, 2024
Unlike MTC, BCDC is charged with maintaining "maximum feasible public access" to the Bay shore, which we feel the current pilot clearly provides.
The hard-working advocates at Bike East Bay have put together a petition page to urge BCDC to support maintaining cycling access. Streetsblog urges all readers to sign the petition and stay tuned for updates on how you can help save the bike lane on the bridge.
Barring any breaking news, Streetsblog San Francisco will not publish on Friday, May 24 or Monday, May 27. May everyone have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
