A new Class IV Bikeway has been installed along Harbour Way South that will provide safer cycling access to the Richmond Ferry Terminal, according to the city’s Public Works department.
The bikeway, installed last week by WR Forde Associates Inc. and its striping contractor, will also feature new bike ramps and upgraded pedestrian ramps along the corridor.
The bikeway now extends from the Ferry Terminal up Harbour Way South to Wright Avenue.
Over the next couple of months, WR Forde will continue its work to extend the Bikeway on Cutting Boulevard from Gerrard Boulevard to Hoffman Boulevard, then down Hoffman Boulevard to Harbour Way South.
The project, called the Cutting Boulevard & Harbour Way South Bikeways Project, involves installing 2.2 miles of protected bike lanes that provide cycling connections between the Richmond Ferry, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trail and the Richmond Greenway.
“For most of the corridor, existing bike lanes will be consolidated on one side of the road into a ‘two-way cycle track’ with a striped buffer separating the bike lanes from the vehicle lanes,” according to the city’s project description. “The buffer will contain a combination of armadillos (like small curb stops) and soft-hit bollards, similar to previous projects on S Garrard Blvd and W Ohio Ave. On Cutting Blvd, surplus vehicle lanes will be removed to make room for the cycle track and additional parking will be added on the north side of the road. No lane reduction will be needed on Harbour Way South.”
The project is funded via the California Dept. of Transportation’s Active Transportation Program and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as well as developer fees and the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB1).
It’s not the only bike lane construction project underway. The city is currently in the midst of the first phase of construction for the Richmond Wellness Trail project along Marina Way South. The Richmond Wellness Trail’s first phase aims to build safe passages for bikes and pedestrians from BART to Martin Luther King Jr. Park on 16th Street and Marina Way South. Along with new bike lanes, the project includes improved sidewalks, rain gardens, new street trees and signage.
Meanwhile, crews are also busy implementing the Yellow Brick Road Pedestrian & Bicycle Improvements Project, with work last week being done at the 5th and 6th Street intersections with Pennsylvania Ave and also at the Elm Ave intersection traffic circle, according to Public Works.
