Commuters crossing the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge from the East Bay to Marin County will notice a big change next week.
For the first time in about six years, the barrier-protected bicycle and pedestrian path on the right shoulder of the westbound upper deck won’t be there for the Monday morning slog. Instead, the moveable barrier will be pushed aside, reopening the shoulder as an emergency access and breakdown lane. Path access will be restored on weekends.
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“We’re looking forward to the change,” said Rollie Katz, executive director of the Marin Association of Public Employees, the union that represents the majority of the county’s employees, including the lowest-paid workers.
On Tuesday, a vehicle breakdown on the westbound upper deck choked the morning commute into Marin. Katz said union members reported that their normal hour-long commute was extended to more than two hours.
“If that happens in the future, emergency crews will be able to move that disabled vehicle onto the shoulder and eliminate that backup,” Katz said. “The way it is now the emergency vehicles have to push through the traffic with no way around. This will make it faster.”
The effort is a pilot project of Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission-Bay Area Toll Authority.
After a six-hour session in August, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission approved the plan to reduce access to the bridge path in order for the agencies to study a potential commuter lane across the span. The approval culminated in a multi-year debate over what to do with the path that began as a four-year trial project in November 2019.
“After receiving the permit approval from BCDC, MTC moved quickly to put changes in place this fall,” said Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters, vice chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “They also engaged with the bicycle community about the shuttle system and trailer to meet the needs of a variety of cyclists and bicycle types, and have come up with a pilot project that I am glad to see begin on Oct. 27.”
Under the so-called modified pilot, crews will need to move the barrier twice a week to accommodate part-time access to the path during weekends. Moving the barrier for maintenance costs about $500,000 annually. The new schedule is expected to double that annual expense, MTC reported.
The path will be closed from 11 p.m. Sundays until 2 p.m. Thursdays, with the barrier moved to the side to reinstate emergency access on the shoulder. The path access will be restored for the remainder of the time.
The path will also be open on select holidays during the three-year trial. These include Memorial Day; Independence Day, if observed on a Monday; Labor Day; Thanksgiving week from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday night; and the week from Christmas to New Year’s Day.
Signs alerting bicyclists and pedestrians to the new hours are positioned at the approaches to the bridge.
A sign posts new hours for the bicyclist and pedestrian path across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in San Rafael, Calif. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
On days the path is closed, a free shuttle with a bicycle trailer will be provided from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. A shuttle pickup and dropoff will be at the AC Transit bus turnaround on Tewksbury Avenue in the Point Richmond neighborhood. In Marin, the shuttle stop is at the Vista Point parking lot near the intersection of Francisco Boulevard East and Main Street in San Rafael.
Members of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition remain disappointed that the Bay Conservation and Development Commission approved the change, “which we believe decreases access to the baylands and runs counter to the agency’s mission,” said Warren Wells, policy and planning director of the organization.
“A shuttle is no replacement for 4 miles of Bay Trail and we expect to see fewer people making use of the shuttle than ride the pathway today,” Wells said. “That said, MCBC is working closely with MTC to ensure that it serves as many potential users as possible and that no one gets left behind because their bike will not fit on the trailer.”
One condition of BCDC approval is that the agencies recommend the use of $10 million in Regional Measure 3 bridge toll dollars for projects that improve bicycle and pedestrian connectivity from Richmond to the bridge.
Caltrans and MTC cannot guarantee the funding yet, because Richmond needs to complete project planning and environmental documentation first.
Another condition is that the agencies study the pilot’s impact on safety, bridge traffic and vulnerable communities. After three years, Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission are expected to report findings and a proposal for a long-term plan to BCDC. The aim is to install a part-time commuter lane for carpools and transit.
“We hope it won’t take three years to determine they could do it,” Katz said. “It would be a big relief.”
The Transportation Authority of Marin previously studied the prospect of adding a third vehicle lane across the bridge. The study showed it would cost about $70 million to $90 million to make improvements to accommodate the change. It would cost an additional $220 million to make a westbound Interstate 580 to Highway 101 connector capable of handling the additional traffic.
“At that time, we actually weren’t looking at a part-time bus and carpool lane,” said Anne Richman, executive director of the Transportation Authority of Marin. “We were just looking at a third travel lane, and so the configurations between those two things are potentially different.”
Richman said they’ll be keeping an eye on the project progress.
“Mostly we’re interested to see if this strikes a good balance for the different users of the bridge,” Richman said. “We’re interested in the results of the new configuration.”