Proposal would add lane to Highway 101

The project aims to align with plans in Santa Clara County to convert existing carpool lanes and create a new 22-mile stretch of express lanes in a region touted as being one of the biggest economic drivers in the world, but where 70 percent of commuters drive solo.

But unlike traditional highway widening, engineers have pored over every inch of San Mateo County’s 15-mile stretch from Whipple Avenue to State Route 380 to create a new lane in each direction. Now, officials are pleased to announce the project will primarily stay within existing Caltrans right-of-way.

“The reason the environmental impacts and right-of-way impacts are minimal, is because we designed it that way to save time and money,” said Caltrans spokesman Jeff Weiss. “We were very motivated to work within the existing right-of-way.”

The proposal is still in the relatively early stages, with the environmental review a key component before design work can begin. Plus, funding for the $534 million project has yet to be secured. The goal if all goes to plan, however, is to begin construction in 2020 and open lanes by 2024, according to the report.

The general plan involves realigning constrained portions of the highway to add a new managed lane in each direction. That can be accomplished by narrowing far left lanes, reducing the width of shoulders and eliminating auxiliary lanes where possible. But the project is not without impacts.

Certain auxiliary lanes, which are reserved for merging on or off the freeway, will be eliminated while heavily trafficked ones will be replaced. The report also outlines several sound walls that will need to be relocated and the replacement of a pedestrian overcrossing along Monte Diablo Avenue in San Mateo. There would also be a range of impacts during construction and requires approvals from a litany of local, state as well as federal agencies, according to the report.

The project also necessitates some right-of-way acquisition in constrained areas, particularly near the San Mateo-Burlingame border. About a 6-foot-wide strip of frontage road — primarily around the Poplar Avenue ramp and Department of Motor Vehicles office in San Mateo — may need to be acquired to make room for the project. Small swaths of road may need to be acquired from the cities of Burlingame and San Mateo, and other right-of-way acquisitions may be needed in various areas along the corridor for the installation of tolling equipment, according to the report.

The express lanes would be free to buses or shuttles, carpoolers with at least three people and, per state law, clean air vehicles. The lane would be available to solo drivers for a fee, with a discounted rate available to two people carpooling. Rates and who is able to use the lane would be adjusted depending on congestion as laws require carpool or express lanes to operate at a minimum 45 mph, according to the report.

“There’s not enough incentive to take a bus or carpool on San Mateo 101 because there is no carpool lane,” Weiss said. “If we’re asking people to carpool, we can’t expect too much because we’re not giving them enough benefit to get in someone else’s car or get on the bus. So the idea is we’re moving away from vehicle throughput and moving toward throughput. We’re trying to get more people in each vehicle rather than move more vehicles through the corridor.”

The end goal is to create a larger, interconnected Bay Area system of express lanes, he explained. Tolls would be collected electronically and violating express lane laws can cost upwards of $400, according to Caltrans.

The local project is a collaborative effort between Caltrans, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, and the City/County Association of Governments. C/CAG Executive Director Sandy Wong agreed the ultimate goal is to encourage people to carpool or take mass transit.

“The project is proposing a new express lane so it will give carpools and buses the advantage, reliable travel time and that in turn would relieve some congestion on the general purpose lane,” Wong said while trying to assure solo drivers the project won’t exacerbate traffic projections.

Traffic analysis showed converting a general purpose lane would worsen travel times for solo drivers who remain the majority of commuters. Instead, engineers have looked throughout the corridor to find areas where they can pinch pennies, or in this case inches, and create a new managed lane primarily within the existing footprint of the highway, she said.

“They’re maximizing every inch of the freeway,” she said.

The project costs range from about $505 million to $534 million when including escalation and while no specific funding sources have been identified, Wong said she’s hopeful Senate Bill 1 could provide assistance. That recently approved legislation, which included gas tax increases and hikes to vehicle registration fees, includes a congested corridors program. She noted managed lanes on Highway 101 were specifically listed as examples in the legislation and is hopeful the San Mateo County project will be considered competitive for the statewide funding source.

Weiss emphasized this corridor has a major influence on the continued prosperity of the region and Caltrans will aggressively seek funding, as well as public input on the project that affects a broad segment of the community.

“We think the project is vital to the economy, 20 [percent] to 25 percent of the [gross domestic product] of California comes from businesses along that corridor,” Weiss said. “If people can’t get to their jobs, than it’s going to have a drag on the economy.”

The public meetings are 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, at Redwood City Hall, 1071 Middlefield Road; and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, at San Mateo City Hall, 330 W. 20th Ave. Visit dot.ca.gov/d4/101/managedlanes/ for more information.

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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Twitter: @samantha_weigel