When Is Richmond San Rafael Bridge Repair Schedule

IN THIS Example STUDY Yous WILL Larn:

• How a roadway shoulder can serve as a role-time utilize lane to salve congestion
• How using loftier definition photographic camera ITS systems can successfully dynamically manage function time use lanes and provide lane management capabilities to existing travel lanes.

Background

In California, Interstate 580 was originally constructed in the mid - 1950s as State Road 17 and the Richmond San Rafael (RSR) Bridge connecting Marin and Contra Costa County was opened to traffic in 1956. Since 2022 the level of traffic congestion had dramatically increased budgeted the eastbound RSR Bridge in Marin County during the evening commute hours. The congestion continued through Marin from the U.s.a. Route 101 (Road 101) interchange to the RSR Bridge for approximately 2.25 miles. A bottleneck developed on eastbound I-580 during the PM peak period on the Span e of the San Quentin/Main Street on- ramp. This bottleneck occurred between 2:00 PM and vii:00 PM and was due to the high traffic demands accessing the freeway from the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and San Quentin/Principal Street on-ramps.

Average eastbound travel times for the vii-mile trip from US 101 interchange in Marin to Richmond in Contra Costa during the peak periods typically exceeded 20 minutes, frustrating many commuters and visitors. During peak times between 4pm and 6pm, approximately 500 vehicles per hour were observed exiting eastbound I- 580 at the San Quentin/Main Street off-ramp merely to and so cantankerous Main Street and re-enter the thruway at the on-ramp to jump the queue approaching the bridge and later on impacting the local customs.

Widening the existing bridge to maintain a shoulder with an additional traffic lane was non a about-term or cost effective alternative. All the same, converting the shoulder to a full-fourth dimension 3rd traffic lane on the span would could crusade a safety consequence by eliminate shoulder areas for Caltrans maintenance personnel and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers to behave work and assist disabled vehicles. Another solution was needed. TSMO framework was deployed to find possible innovations.

TSMO PLANNING, STRATEGY AND DEPLOYMENT

In fall of 2022, the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) engaged consultants to perform several feasibility studies looking for solutions to the increased congestion approaching the RSR Bridge. The result of that work was a request for Caltrans District four and the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) to examine converting the existing westbound shoulder into a 3rd travel lane.

Due to the urgent need to find a solution for the severe traffic congestion and concerns from CHP and Caltrans Maintenance personnel on safe, Caltrans, FHWA and BATA decided to farther investigate use of the role-time apply lane as a strategy to address stakeholders concerns. After further coordination and outreach, BATA, the entity responsible for price acquirement collection and reinvestment of that revenue into the vii Caltrans owned toll bridges in the region (including the RSR Bridge), became the project sponsor and took to the atomic number 82 in the implementation of the project. BATA contracted with HNTB, Parsons, and WSP to perform design, systems integration, and structure management for the projection. As the eventual possessor and operator of the improved span corridor, Caltrans was responsible for oversight and systems engineering support in shut coordination with BATA.

Through the implementation of active traffic management using intelligent transportation systems (ITS), Caltrans and BATA converted the eastbound right shoulder to a dynamically managed 3rd lane on the 4.0-mile-long I-580 Richmond San Rafael Bridge and added lane management capabilities to the two existing travel lanes. The $53M project also improved the westbound and eastbound approaches to the bridge and the Richmond Parkway/Point Richmond interchange. The third lane on the span's lower deck is typically open daily from 2:00PM to vii:00PM and at other periods depending on traffic weather condition and maintenance activities. All lanes on the RSR Span are controlled by lane use signs over each lane at twenty locations, all of which are interconnected by a redundant fiber optic network. High definition cameras throughout the corridor to allow operators to verify condition of the part- time use lane. Caltrans is the sole operator of the office- time use lane system.

Once the initial concept of the function- fourth dimension use lane gained back up among motorists and stakeholders, the project team followed the systems technology process to develop system requirements that eventually led to successful integration of the new ITS elements into existing Caltrans ITS infrastructure. Utilizing the existing system architecture hardware installed at the regional transportation management center (TMC) reduced risks and costs and streamlined the integration process to allow the part fourth dimension use lane (third lane) to open to the public subsequently 16 months of structure. Caltrans TMC operators manage the part- time use lane using the same advanced traffic management software (ATMS) system used throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

COMMUNICATIONS, PLANNING AND EXECUTION

Beingness the start project of its kind in the region, outreach efforts were extensive as BATA and Caltrans held meetings with Chevron, the Urban center of Richmond, the City of San Rafael, County of Marin, Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA), Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM), Bay Trail, Trails for Richmond Activity Committee (TRAC), San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC), Bike Eastward Bay (Due east Bay Bicycle Coalition), and Caltrans District 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Informational Committees. The same project that established the function time utilize lane too converted the shoulder on the upper deck of the RSR Span to a bi-directional bicycle and pedestrian path. The bicycle path portion of the project necessitated the need for shut coordination with Bay Area bike advancement groups.

Unlike a typical roadway "add a lane" construction project, the part-time use lane arrangement is operated daily and involves ongoing operations and maintenance. The project team coordinated with Caltrans Maintenance, Construction, and Traffic Operations teams along with the CHP to develop strategies and procedures to mitigate the risks and impacts of a part time employ lane. Worker and public safety are a acme priority, and constant communication among the response teams is a key component for TSMO success. The span'south existing shoulder is used past CHP and Caltrans tow service to aid disabled vehicles without interrupting traffic menstruation. With the elimination of the shoulder during meridian periods, Caltrans and CHP needed to suit their procedures and care for the shoulder as live traffic lane while increasing their advice with the District 4 TMC operators.

Consistent coordination meetings with managers and field staff produced updated standard operating procedures, and the project team implemented flexible operating rules that allowed the organization to alert motorists if the shoulder or part time employ lanes is blocked ahead. The upshot of the stakeholder outreach meetings helped the Caltrans staff from different functional areas amend understand the daily operations of the cost bridge staff and risks workers confront while serving the driving public. As a secondary benefit of the projection and project evolution process, Caltrans, as the owner and operator of the RSR Bridge, has a amend understanding of the challenges and operating procedures of this bridge. The project team also provided additional outreach, equipment and training to first responders to incorporate design features as the projection necessitated changes emergency to incident response strategies on the RSR Bridge.

An extensive public information campaign led by BATA educated the public of ongoing structure and eventual operations of the part time use lane. The project garnered widespread television coverage helping the agencies to reinforce the importance of following indication on the lane use signs and messages on the changeable message signs.

OUTCOME, BENEFITS, AND LEARNING

Since opening to the public on Apr twenty, 2022, the function-time use lane has eliminated afternoon congestion on eastbound I- 580 onto the bridge saving drivers approximately xv minutes daily on their seven mile trip from Marin to Contra Costa Canton. This equates to annual savings of 700,000 vehicle- hours of delay on weekdays and another 91,000 vehicle hours on weekends. Queue jumping and local streets congestion nearly the RSR Bridge in Marin County has decreased. The expanded chapters of the span during the PM peak period did generate some moderate downstream impacts, nigh of which were addressed by minor intersection and ramp improvements constructed by the project. Caltrans, City of Richmond, and BATA continued to closely coordinate traffic management activities even afterward the function-time use lane opened including developing optimized indicate timing plans to mitigate the impacts. The three agencies proactively monitor RSR bridge corridors and major arterials and jointly implement improvements in consultation with the community including large employers such as Chevron.

The lane utilize signs across all iii lanes provide the added benefit of helping Caltrans manage incidents and lane closures on the bridge in real-time and minimize exposure for responders clearing crashes and disabled vehicles and roadway maintenance personnel. The project has increased the daily communications between traffic operations, maintenance and construction personnel operating and maintaining the RSR Bridge.

Every bit the start part-fourth dimension use lane on a freeway in California, the project demonstrated existing shoulders, while helpful to maintenance and enforcement personnel could exist used as part- time use lanes to ease congestion. The success of this project has helped similar projects in the San Francisco Bay Area region looking to utilize existing paved shoulders to salvage congestion or provide priority for transit gain support from a diversity of stakeholder groups. From a engineering standpoint, the projection further demonstrated the flexibility that total color changeable message signs provide for traffic management and replication of regulatory static traffic signs.

Source: https://transportationops.org/case-studies/richmond-san-rafael-bridge-access-improvements-part-time-use-lane

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