Caltrans has released a draft environmental impact report for the proposed replacement of the Green Bridge, two years after it announced the project to the public.
The over 400-page document describes impacts on a range of issues facing the replacement of Point Reyes Station’s historic crossing over Papermill Creek, including land use, the community, parks, views, noise, water quality and more.
It also provides more details on the specifics of the project, which could cost anywhere from $8 million to $12.6 million, depending on which option is chosen.
The release kicks off a public comment period that lasts until June 9, with a public meeting to discuss the analysis scheduled for May 10 at the Marconi Conference Center.
A final version of the report, in which a preferred alternative will be selected, is expected by the end of the year. Construction is set to begin in 2019.
Practically speaking, there are three options for a new bridge: a short steel-truss bridge, a concrete bridge and a full-span truss bridge. But technically, Caltrans analyzed six project options: a no-project alternative; a short steel-truss bridge with either an accelerated construction schedule or a conventional schedule; a concrete bridge on an accelerated schedule; and the full steel-truss bridge, with two options for how to install it but both on accelerated construction schedules.
Accelerated schedules were not part of Caltrans’s original proposal, but community concerns about a long drawn-out project spurred the agency to consider them. (Caltrans says it must replace the more than 80-year-old bridge because it would likely fail in an earthquake.)
Many of the impacts for the bridge options are relatively similar. For instance, in every case construction will entail a three-way stop at Highway 1 and Levee Road, controlled by flaggers holding stop signs.
All the options will result in lots of noise; similar but relatively modest permanent impacts to sensitive habitat; and the closure of the trailhead next to the bridge. Construction could also affect a number of species, including the Western pond turtle, the Tomales roach (which is a fish), birds, coho salmon, steelhead trout and others.
All options would also affect private property, including the veterinarian’s office. The report says that the Point Reyes Animal Hospital’s parking lot would be reconfigured to allow the business to continue operating. The agency would work to curtail impacts to animals there, and may even temporarily help relocate them.
But there are a few key differences between the options. One of the most significant relates to visual impacts; the report says the full-span truss bridge—which would include crossbars anywhere from 20 to 30 feet high stretching over the bridge—would have an adverse visual impact that would not comport with either the Point Reyes Station Community Plan or the Local Coastal Program.
But the report also noted that the full-truss option is the only one that does not require pilings in the creek, leading to lesser impacts to water quality.
Another major difference between the options is their timeline. Almost all the alternatives would be undertaken on an accelerated schedule, meaning construction will last about one year and a full closure of the crossing—which sees about 3,000 cars a day—would last two or three weeks.
The closure, which will necessitate a nine-mile detour through Olema, would have to take place during the summer to lessen impacts to aquatic life, since that is when workers will be installing the new bridge.
Of course, that’s also the peak tourist season and businesses, including the farmers market, could be temporarily harmed. During those two to three weeks, construction will be underway 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The report also offered one option with a conventional schedule, with construction lasting three years. Under this alternative—the short truss design—Caltrans would build a temporary two-lane bridge next to the Green Bridge, eliminating the need for a full closure. (The temporary crossing would sometimes allow just one lane of traffic.)
But the report suggests that this option was presented more as a point of comparison about potential impacts, as conventional construction schedules for the other two bridge options were eliminated from consideration.
There are also modest differences in the extent of construction and size of the staging area each option requires, though the differences only amount to roughly a third of an acre. The agency plans to use vacant areas at the corner of Levee Road and Highway 1 just north of Marin Sun Farms, at the corner of Highway 1 and B Street, and part of the veterinarian office’s parking lot, for staging areas. The options would use between 2.5 and 2.8 acres of staging.
The cheapest alternative is the concrete bridge, at $8 million. The short truss bridge would cost $8.7 million on an accelerated schedule, but $12.6 million on a conventional schedule. The full-span truss bridge would cost $9.1 million or $10.1 million, depending on the method of installation.
After the announcement of the project, many locals clamored for a retrofit rather than a replacement, largely concerned about the strain that a long construction project would put on the town.
But the agency said a retrofit was infeasible, in part because it does not even know how deep the pilings in the creek go.
Some were also concerned that a new bridge would need to be wider, in line with modern design standards. All options include 11-foot-wide lanes, five-foot shoulders and a six-foot-wide pedestrian walkway.
A public meeting to present the results of the draft environmental impact report starts at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 10 at Buck Hall at the Marconi Conference Center, in Marshall. There will be a presentation and the public can provide feedback through comment cards, a court reporter or publicly. Comments may also be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to Caltrans, Project Office of Environmental Analysis, MS – 8B, attention: Lagunitas Creek Bridge Project, 111 Grand Ave., Oakland CA 94623.