Point San Pedro Road project nears finish with bike lanes and crossing beacons

Marin County said on September 28 that its three-mile Point San Pedro Road paving and safety project in San Rafael was nearing completion, with striping, signs and finishing work continuing through October. The changes affect a route used to reach neighborhoods, schools, businesses and China Camp State Park. The county says bicycle lanes are becoming more continuous, while acknowledging that gaps remain.

The work runs from San Rafael High School to east of Biscayne Drive. Along that corridor, the road passes between San Rafael and Marin County jurisdiction five times. The city and county delivered the improvements as one project, according to the county. Its September update describes work still to be done, rather than declaring the route finished.

Where Point San Pedro Road crossings gained beacons

Pedestrian-activated rectangular rapid flashing beacons have been added at marked crossings at Knight Drive, Peacock Drive and Riviera Drive, the county says. Their purpose is to make people crossing more visible to drivers. The county named those same three crossings in its March project announcement, when it described the planned pavement work and safety changes.

The September update also identifies curb extensions and updated pavement markings at selected locations. Those changes sit alongside the crossing beacons in the road project, but the county’s account does not give a crossing-by-crossing assessment of their effects. The reviewed sources provide no post-project figures for collisions, traffic or bicycle use, so the safety outcome cannot yet be measured from them.

Bike lanes, narrower vehicle lanes and parking

New striping creates more continuous bicycle lanes, with green bicycle-lane markings at selected locations. Some on-street parking was removed to make room for bicycle lanes. Where road width allows, vehicle lanes were generally narrowed to 11 feet. Those are the changes the county confirms; its update does not identify every block where parking was removed or every place a bicycle lane still stops.

That distinction matters for anyone trying to plan a trip along the full route. A description of more continuous lanes does not mean an uninterrupted lane from the high school to east of Biscayne Drive. The county expressly acknowledges gaps in several locations, while leaving their precise positions unspecified in the reviewed September account.

County Supervisor Mary Sackett said students bicycle to San Rafael High School and described the project as giving them clearer space on the road. San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin described the work as a joint effort to maintain the road and improve conditions for people walking, cycling and driving. Those statements set out the officials’ aims; the reviewed sources do not establish how the finished layout will perform.

Earlier dispute over an eastbound bike-lane gap

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition identified a different, earlier layout problem in August 2021: an eastbound bike-lane gap of nearly half a mile between Loch Lomond Marina and Bayside Park, where the lane gave way to on-street parking. Its account explains why lane continuity had become a local issue before the current paving project. It does not establish whether that exact gap survives in the 2026 layout.

The coalition later said a 2022 proposal to convert an eastbound vehicle lane into a bike lane was withdrawn after a community meeting. That history shows a previous approach to the corridor did not proceed as proposed. It is not evidence that the current project adopted the same lane arrangement, and the county’s September update does not provide a block-by-block comparison with the earlier proposal.

The San Rafael Record reported on September 29 that it had reviewed council records concerning a separate speed-limit action. According to its account, a July 20 city vote lowered the limit from 40 to 35 mph between Marina Boulevard and Porto Bello Drive. That vote preceded the county’s September construction update; it should not be confused with completion of the paving and crossing work.

What work remains through October

The county scheduled striping, signage and finishing work through October. It also said a retaining-wall replacement east of Marina Boulevard was expected to finish by the end of that month. When the county issued its update, sidewalk replacement, site restoration and removal of temporary traffic controls remained ahead at the wall site. The September announcement establishes a schedule, not a completed project.

For residents and businesses along the corridor, the clearest confirmed changes are the three named beacon crossings, more continuous bicycle-lane striping, some removed on-street parking and generally narrower vehicle lanes where the width permits. The precise parking blocks and remaining lane gaps are still unresolved in the county’s published account. Those details would be needed to describe the final route section by section.