THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF REMOVING BRIDGEWAY WATERFRONT’S MEDIAN LANE
on
SAUSALITO AND ITS HISTORIC BUSINESS DISTRICT
March 18, 2025
Roger Taylor, MD, MPA. Sausalito resident, emergency physician, cyclist, and former
Director of the State of California’s Emergency Medical Services Authority and RAND Researcher
The Damaging Effects of Removing Bridgeway Waterfront’s Median Lane
on Sausalito and its Historic Business District
A Saturday, March 29th Special Session of the Sausalito City Council starting at 1:00 PM will
determine the fate of Bridgeway’s picturesque waterfront. Its iconic views of San Francisco
Bay and waterfront sidewalks, shops and restaurants make this an international
destination. Although no roadway design is perfect, the three-lane configuration along
Bridgeway’s waterfront and its sidewalk promenades work equally well for everyone. But
under pressure from the county-wide Bicycle Coalition’s lobbying efforts and encouraged
by a $0.5 Million dollar Bay Trail fund grant, the City Council is considering the removal of
this valuable median lane that has served Sausalito well to create Class-II bike lanes
serving only cyclists. The Parametrix study and presentation supporting this plan, and the
Public Works Department Staff Report explaining it have sugar-coated some of the facts
and downplayed or ignored damaging effects. Businesses, residents and visitors need all
the facts about this proposed detrimental change to our idyllic Bridgeway waterfront.
SUMMARY OF THE FACTS:
• Our waterfront’s continuous median lane calms and improves traffic flow, reduces
collision rates, and improves safety, mobility and access for motorists, cyclists, first
responders and pedestrians. Federal Highway Administration research proves this. (1)
• This is a solution looking for a problem. Cyclists have historically been quite safe on
this section of Bridgeway’s waterfront with a continuous median lane with only one
injury accident in 10 years. Other parts of Sausalito’s Bay Trail need attention, not here. (2)
• There is not enough real estate nor justification to give a single interest group 12 feet
of waterfront Bridgeway’s width to the detriment to everyone else. Bridgeway north of
here is wide enough to support full-sized traffoc lanes, median turning lanes, curb-side
parking and bike lanes. But 12 feet of bike lanes would take up a full 30% of our
waterfront road’s width and remove our necessary median left-hand turn lane.
• 12 or more badly needed daytime parking spaces will be taken away six days per
week, three permanently, with the S1 option being promoted. (3)
That’s more than a quarter of Bridgeway’s daytime parking which, added to the 20 close-in parking spots
permanently lost restructuring Tracy Way and Parking Lot 1, will lose visitors to the area.
San Mateo is removing bike lanes at great expense because of their negative effect on
parking. Sausalito shouldn’t wait to see the damage done by this plan to say “NO.”
• Dangerous double-parking and traffic jams will result. With limited loading zones
and no median lane, more emergency, delivery, garbage, construction, service and
other vehicles will double-park near stores, restaurants and homes. Those, and
vehicles waiting to turn left will back up traffic, anger drivers and increase noise and pollution. Impatient drivers and cyclists will cross into oncoming traffic to pass, increasing dangerous head-on collisions. Busier days will cause even more traffic jams.
• The project will cost $3.3 Million to complete. (4) That is $2.8 Million more than the $0.5
Million grant that many proponents have claimed would pay for everything. Even if the
S1 design option was a good plan (which it is not) Sausalito cannot afford this when it
reportedly can’t afford to fix potholes or a myriad of other pressing City-wide problems.
• The project will hurt local merchants. There will be fewer parking options. Delivery
trucks and service vans supplying area businesses and homes will have a limited
number of loading zone spaces and will double-park if necessary. Vehicles dropping off
visitors and customers picking up to-go orders will no longer have a center lane and will
be hassled and ticketed if they park in loading zones from 6:30AM to 4:00PM Monday
through Saturday. Noisy trucks backing up to unload directly onto our sidewalk next to
popular parklets and transporting motorized pallets and hand trucks with supplies and
equipment along stretches of our sidewalks will turn-away customers and endanger
pedestrians. Parking enforcement efforts will frustrate suppliers and increase the
difficulty and cost of obtaining timely needed supplies, services and support. Often-
unpredictable schedules for delivery trucks mean no-daytime-parking-zones will
sometimes be frustratingly empty, and other times there’ll be no room anywhere.
Evening and Sunday emergency responses and urgently needed delivery and service
vendors will have no median lane or loading zones. All of this will frustrate and turn off
potential customers looking to conveniently shop or eat. The changes proposed for
Sausalito’s waterfront differ from the disastrous changes to San Francisco’s once-
vibrant Valencia Street that damaged or closed many businesses, but the similarities
are frightening. It could happen here if visitors and social media become disillusioned.
• Vision Zero is a good goal, but removing the median lane makes it less obtainable.
As discussed below, Bridgeway’s waterfront area with a continuous median lane has a
relatively low collision rate. Our public safety officials are on record as saying: “the
center lane is a relief valve for residents, commercial purposes, and emergency
purposes.” (5) No matter what road design, human and mechanical error will cause some
accidents. FHA research proves that the loss of our median lane configuration will
result in more collisions, not less, and more dangerous head-on collisions.
IMPORTANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Median Lane Facts: Federal Highway Administration (FHA) research proves continuous
median lane configurations calm and improve traffic flow, reduce collision rates, and
improve safety, mobility and access for motorists, cyclists, first responders and
pedestrians. (6) This effect is confirmed in a 2018 Marin County Travel Safety Plan Systemic
Safety Analysis which reports the collision risk during the busy pre-COVID years along
Bridgeway’s waterfront area was “Low” compared to other areas of Bridgeway, Richardson
St. and Second St. (7) The Staff Report for the March 29th Council meeting chose to report
collision rates of all types for an area extending beyond Bridgeway’s median lane, by
including Bridgeway’s intersection with Princess St., and Richardson St. to its intersection
with Second St. This larger area had an average of 5 collisions of all types per year over 10
years. Only 1 was head-on and only 5 resulted in injuries in that 10 years (only one of which
was serious). (8)
A 2007 death in this area resulted from a garbage truck backing up and
hitting a pedestrian. (9) Without the median lane, delivery, garbage, service and construction
trucks backing into loading zones will put pedestrians and cyclists at greater risk. Without
evidence, the above referenced Staff Report speculated this broader area’s collision rate
“could potentially be attributed to the presence of the narrow center lane.” This is pure
conjecture serving the writer’s goals. It is easier to believe collisions near our waterfront
could be attributed to distracted drivers looking at the view and taking and texting pictures.
Cyclist, Pedestrian and Vehicular Safety Facts: Alexander Ave to the south and sections
of Bridgeway to the north do need bikeway safety improvements. But a Parametrix report
shows Bridgeway’s waterfront section with a continuous median lane had only one cyclist
collision-related injury accident in 10 years. (10) There were two on Second St south of
Bridgeway near Golden Gate Market, and one near the median lane’s transition to a left
turn lane at Princess. If the median lane is eliminated, cyclists and vehicles will need to
swing into oncoming traffic to avoid double-parked emergency vehicles, trucks and cars,
and cyclists and vehicles will no longer have a median lane to get out of the way of traffic to
turn left or safely avoid slow groups of cyclists or vehicles slowing to sightsee or take
pictures. As cited above, we will have more collisions and more head-on collisions.
Cyclists will be encouraged to go faster, and four lanes of bike and vehicular traffic will feel
like a freeway at times. Adding one or two recommended crosswalks will help, but
pedestrians will still exercise their legal right to cross the street where they choose but will
no longer have the comfort of pausing in the median lane’s unofficial refuge area while
crossing. The cumulative effect of all this will be damaging to the area’s relaxed ambiance.
Business Impact: Anything that reduces the appeal or quality of life on Bridgeway’s
waterfront will hurt area business. The significant reduction in nearby parking spots, the
loss of the median lane, and loading zones that prohibit passenger vehicles for most
daytime hours six days a week will frustrate and discourage those wanting to come to
Sausalito, drop off visitors, park to shop and eat, or briefly stop to pick up coffee, pastries
or take-out orders. While there are differences between the proposed bike lane plan for
Sausalito and the disaster that has happened to San Francisco’s once vibrant Valencia
Street, the similarities are alarming. The plan includes 150 feet of curbside loading zones
right next to our historic district’s restaurants, parklets and shops and an additional 42-foot
zone much farther south. (11) Trucks backing up and unloading directly onto our sidewalks
and transporting supplies and equipment along long stretches of our sidewalk will block
views and pedestrian access and give a more industrial character to the area. The
unpredictable timing of delivery truck arrivals, parking zone length requirements, and time
needed on site make planning for urgently needed supplies and services difficult. The
likelihood of needing to double-park and possibly get harassed or ticketed, or of missing
their delivery schedule, will further complicate merchants’ supply management.
Construction, service and supply trucks for other local businesses, homes and apartments
will also compete for available parking and double-park if needed to meet their tight
schedules. The resulting traffic congestion, lack of parking, angry drivers, noise, pollution,
and danger will discourage visitors and customers. Such detrimental changes run the risk
of permanently damaging the area’s reputation as a desirable day-trip destination, and as a
highly regarded regional, national and international destination location.
Risks to Lives and Property: Fires can double in size every 30 to 60 seconds, (12) and heart
attacks kill quickly. Every second of delay counts. In theory, if Bridgeway’s curb to curb
width stays the same, where lane lines are drawn shouldn’t impact emergency response
times. But Code 3 emergency driving guidelines which typically allow emergency
responders to exceed speed limits by 10 miles an hour if it is safe, require them to slow
down, typically to 20 miles an hour, when crossing into an oncoming traffic lane. (13)
With no center lane and trucks and others that previously briefly stopped in it forced to double-park
instead, emergency responders traveling along Bridgeway’s waterfront will be forced to
slow down and cross into the oncoming traffic lane to pass, delaying response times. Also,
Bridgeway waterfront responses “would require emergency services to have traffic control
during every incident, and public officials stated separately, “(they) don’t have the staff”. (14)
Biased Parametrix Report: The study supporting this project (15) understates projected
congestion by basing it on off-season data from March 2024. It absurdly assumes every
truck and passenger vehicle will somehow find parking despite less spaces or leave the
area rather than double-park. It ignores Bridgeway’s critical role in major disasters and
evacuations. It mandates higher bike lane standards than exist for most of Sausalito’s Bay
Trail, and it ignored alternative options to improve the safety of our existing Class III bike
route. It ignores Sausalito’s public safety leaders’ 2023 and 2024 statements that “the
street is rather safe,” “the center lane is a relief valve...,” “regulating in a different way would
add more chaos,” and “(our public safety leaders’) preferred option...maintains the center
median configuration.” Because it was a Bay Trail funded report, its purpose was to support
what Bay Trail advocates want, while downplaying or ignoring negative impacts on all other
interest groups, and on the area’s ambiance, mobility, appeal and businesses.
Alternative Bike Lane Options: The Parametrix recommended long-range option preserves
the median lane, raises the seawall, widens Bridgeway and adds Class II bike lanes. But
plan proponents don’t want to wait. They want to grab our median lane now regardless of
community impact or residents’ and businesses’ objections. Sausalito could simply make
the area’s historically safe Class III bike route even better at much lower cost by improving
signage, striping, sharrows and enforcement while developing plans and funding for long-
range solutions currently being reviewed by Sausalito’s Sustainability Commission.
REFERENCES
1 Continuous Median Lane Benefits: Multiple State and Federal Highway Administration (FHA) Publications
address the benefits of Continuous Center Two-Way Left-Turn Lanes (TWLTL) and Road Diet configurations:
For example, see: https://highways.dot.gov/safety/proven-safety-countermeasures/road-diets-roadway-
reconfiguration#:~:text=A%20Road%20Diet%20typically%20involves,%2Dturn%20lane%20(TWLTL).&text=B
enefits%20of%20Road%20Diet%20installations,the%20dedicated%20left%2Dturn%20lane.
2 Cyclist Safety: The Dec 9, 2024 Parametrix report to the PBAC shows Bridgeway’s waterfront section with a
continuous median lane had only 1 cyclist collision-related injury accident in 10 years. (2) There were 2 others
on Second St near Golden Gate Market, and 1 near the median lane’s transition to a left turn lane at Princess.
3 Parking: Staff Report for the City Council’s March 29, 2025, meeting (attached to that Agenda) reports 47
vehicle parking spaces and two motorcycle spaces now. The promoted Short-Range Option (S1) converts 9
spaces to Loading Zones Monday through Saturday 6:30AM to 4:00PM and eliminates 3 (Daylighting for
crosswalks may require more). This is in addition to over 20 close-in spaces lost from Tracy Way and Lot 1.
4 Cost: The promoted S1 option is projected to cost $3.3 Million to complete, $2.6 Million for the first phase
and $700,000 to complete the necessary north-bound Loading Zone on Bridgeway according to the new
March 29, 2025 Parametrix report attached to that City Council meeting’s Agenda.
5 Minutes of June 30, 2023 Meeting with Public Safety Officials’ Detailing their Serious Concerns:
https://files.constantcontact.com/a47f037a001/b2cdfc6a-7007-4145-87a8-11225438afce.pdf
6 Continuous Median Lane Benefits: Multiple State and FHA publications as referenced above address the
benefits of Continuous Center Two-Way Left-Turn Lanes (TWLTL) and Road Diet configurations.
7 2018 Marin County Safety Analysis Showing Low Waterfront Collision Rates in Busy Pre-COVID years:
https://www.marincounty.org/userdata/dpw/Marin%20County%20Travel%20Safety%20Plan%20-
%20Final%20Report.pdf
8 Staff Report for the City Council’s March 29, 2025, Meeting, attached to that Council meeting’s Agenda.
9 Pedestrian Killed by Garbage Truck Backing-up on Bridgeway in 2007:
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/sausalito-garbage-truck-kills-pedestrian-2588803.php
10 Dec. 9, 2024, Parametrix report to the PBAC meeting referenced above.
11 Parametrix’s new March 29, 2025, Report attached to the to that City Council meeting’s agenda.
12 Fires double every 30 or 60 seconds is a fact mentioned in multiple sources. For an example, see:
https://discover.pbc.gov/publicsafety/dem/Hazards/Fire-Facts.aspx
13 Fire Trucks Must Slow in Oncoming Traffic Lane: While varying by jurisdiction, fire trucks traveling Code 3
can typically travel 10 miles above the speed limit while operating safely in a traffic lane, but must slow down,
exercise caution, and go no more than 20 miles an hour when entering an oncoming traffic lane. For example,
see CA State Firefighters’ Association’s summary at: https://www.csfa.net/the-code-3-distraction/
14 Minutes of June 30, 2023, meeting referenced above and Minutes of Sept. 25, 2024, meeting of
Sausalito Public Safety Officials with Parametrix linked in Agenda of Dec. 9, 2024, PBAC meeting.
15 Parametrix Dec. 9, 2024, Report to the PBAC meeting referenced above and attached to their agenda.