My previous columns about how Inverness confronted its perennial problem of speeders zooming through the village center got us as far as late 2003. That’s when the county’s highway engineers released data from traffic surveys conducted before and after a test median defined by temporary asphalt curbs was installed on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
The rejoicing was palpable when we learned that the midday average speed had plummeted from 34 m.p.h. in December 2002 to just 21 m.p.h. in July 2003. Business owners agreed that the median had made a major difference, and they asked unanimously that the temporary one be made permanent.
Besides the safety aspect, the businesses had a commercial interest in slowing down traffic: more tourists might stop to patronize local establishments. But how did the town as a whole feel about a permanent median? And who would pay the projected cost of $18,000 for a concrete-curbed divider with a landscaped center?
The Inverness Association pondered (one of its specialties) and decided (admirably) to put the matter to a vote of the community. The polling was conducted in the manner of a county-run election. A voter pamphlet provided an explanation of the proposed project, “pro” and “con” arguments from local citizens, a ballot and a return envelope. Anyone living, working or owning property in the Inverness Ridge planning area was eligible to vote. Ballots were mailed to all Inverness boxholders, to the Inverness Association’s members with a mailing address outside of Inverness and to several dozen other qualifying people who requested a ballot.
A surprising response of 683 ballots were tallied after voting closed on March 15, 2004. The yes side dominated, with 534 votes (78 percent), while the opposition came up with 149 votes (22 percent).
Some opponents said they supported the idea of a median but objected to the design. Alternatives included narrowing the divider to less than six feet so the parking lanes could be widened and extending the installation northward to the corner of Inverness Way. Some were concerned that the median might cause accidents or impede the passage of emergency vehicles.
Lunny Grading & Paving agreed to do the work at cost (with some freebies thrown in), enabling the fundraising goal to be brought down to $16,000. The county agreed to absorb $10,000, leaving the community with the task of raising $6,000. A solicitation quickly brought in $6,065 from 96 contributors. What with some vexatious permitting and legal issues, it wasn’t until the spring of 2006 that the concrete-curbed median became a reality ready to be planted.
A committee of the Inverness Garden Club chaired by Linda Linder took responsibility for the median’s landscaping. They recruited from the Native Plant Society the renowned botanical artist Kristin Jakob, who proposed a palette of plantings in a design so detailed and elegant that when it came time to install the plants—in a welcoming bed of farm-rich soil donated by the Lunnys—a crew of a dozen volunteers accomplished the task in less than an hour. Ever since that memorable day in June 2006, maintenance seems to have fallen permanently onto the shoulders of Linda and Barry Linder, who show up regularly to keep the xeriscaped median weeded and abloom in seasonal displays of well-chosen foliage. (Warning: If the town fails to maintain the landscaping, the county can replace the soil with concrete.)
In July 2007, the San Francisco Chronicle’s longtime architecture critic, John King, led off a column on a visit to West Marin with these words: “Here’s how physical change is measured in West Marin County: ‘Downtown’ Inverness now has a median all its own. Granted, the median’s sprightly burst of lavender isn’t what you’d expect outside a weathered market with an Oakland Raiders logo in the window, where the gravel parking lot leads to a beached tugboat.”
Here are some unique features about the median. It is a few feet short of the minimum design length set by Caltrans for a divider on an arterial roadway, so it may be the shortest highway median in California. The crosswalk that bisects it is the widest in unincorporated Marin because its width was dictated not by crosswalk standards but by the width of the stairs on the west side up to the boardwalk along the front of the post office building.
Finally, the next time you’re in Inverness, look down at the knobby paver stones where the crosswalk bisects the median. They aren’t those hideous plastic sheets of bumpety bright-yellow dots, are they? These are called, variously, truncated dome mats, tactile pavers, Braille blocks and, to the delight of bureaucrats, “tactile ground surface indicators.” Their purpose is to warn the visually impaired about an approaching hazard, such as the edge of the roadway. Kevin Lunny discovered that the standard eye-sore version could be replaced by A.D.A.-compliant earthtone paving stones, which he obtained and generously donated.
The median exemplifies something I especially like about living in Inverness, and in West Marin in general: We usually manage to figure out on our own how to solve our problems.
Wade Holland has been solving (and creating) problems in Inverness since 1970.