Highway 37 could become the next "Toll Bridge"

[thsftw]

Interesting article I found about how they're proposing to make 37 into a 4 lane highway by converting the shoulders and paying for it by tolling the entire stretch as an extra "toll bridge"

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/plan-to-add-toll-to-highway-37-for-safety-funding-faces-opposition/

[kernals12]

Cancelling the stupid bullet train would pay for this project many times over without any need for tolls. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Cancelling the stupid bullet train would pay for this project many times over without any need for tolls. 

Yes, this post contributes much to the topic at hand.

[Quillz]

I saw another post that said that one lane would be tolled, the other would not. So there are a lot of proposals being thrown out there, all I can really say is "I'll believe it when it happens."

[The Ghostbuster]

Will this proposal even be built? It sounds like it would likely cost a fortune, and while it would probably reduce congestion, people might consider the elevated causeway an eyesore.

[bing101]

Will this proposal even be built? It sounds like it would likely cost a fortune, and while it would probably reduce congestion, people might consider the elevated causeway an eyesore.

Sure it has to happen one way or another.

[Quillz]

Will this proposal even be built? It sounds like it would likely cost a fortune, and while it would probably reduce congestion, people might consider the elevated causeway an eyesore.

Not impossible but is probably still decades away.

[Techknow]

Umm... I pretty sure CA 37 is already 4 lanes the whole route from Novato to Vallejo?

Then again the highway could be threatened by rising water levels surrounding it, so that might justify new road?

[J N Winkler]

Umm... I pretty sure CA 37 is already 4 lanes the whole route from Novato to Vallejo?

Not the whole way--the section of concern is Mare Island to Sears Point, which consists of an up lane separated from the down lane by a Jersey barrier.  This segment runs through wetland, so aside from the flooding, it is an environmental compliance nightmare.

[jrouse]

I've been involved in this project for some time now.  The long term solution is to replace the existing 2-lane section with a 4-lane elevated causeway.  But that proposal is extremely expensive.  And there are significant congestion issues on that section which need to be addressed now.  So, in order to fix the congestion and to start building up funds for the long-term solution, the plan is to widen that existing 2-lane section to 4 lanes.   There was legislation introduced last year to toll all the lanes in this section but it didn't pass.   So, they had to come up with an alternative solution, which was to make the new lanes a toll lane.  And then within the next few years, convert the remaining lanes to toll lanes.  I worked on the review of the tolling legislation and drafted amendments to it and provided a lot of input into different ways on which tolling could be applied onto that segment.   

I've driven Highway 37 the last two weekends, and with all the rain we have had this year, the wetlands around the roadway have a lot of water in them.  In fact, just before you reach the Mare Island turnoff, the water appears to be just a couple of feet from the roadway.  It definitely makes you realize just how vulnerable the highway actually is to flooding.

[jdbx]

I'm glad that something is being planned in the short-term to address the congestion on this route.  The stretch between Vallejo and Sears Point is terribly congested most weekends, and it's even worse when it is Nascar weekend.  I have heard similar horror stories around commute-time traffic as well.

Is the plan to add the toll lane as a HOT lane similar to others in the Bay Area?  There are no interchanges, so I could see it being built with a double-white line, but I am not sure how you would prevent people from skipping tolls without some sort of barrier. The article wasn't very clear, and the fact that it talked about erecting toll gates leads me to believe that the reporter does not know how toll lanes are implemented in the 21st century.

I am also interested in seeing the results of the planned project to rebuild the intersection with CA-121, that is another huge pain point on this route.

[pderocco]

Will this proposal even be built? It sounds like it would likely cost a fortune, and while it would probably reduce congestion, people might consider the elevated causeway an eyesore.

An eyesore from what vantage point? A boat? Are the elevated roads like parts of CA-160 along the Sacramento River considered eyesores?

[skluth]

Will this proposal even be built? It sounds like it would likely cost a fortune, and while it would probably reduce congestion, people might consider the elevated causeway an eyesore.

An eyesore from what vantage point? A boat? Are the elevated roads like parts of CA-160 along the Sacramento River considered eyesores?

An elevated highway might be an eyesore if you're on land and it blocks your view of the water. That's the case with the West Norfolk Bridge in Virginia. But that was preferable to all the traffic on the street directly in front of their houses previously. Not to mention home owners no longer have their homes being rattled by the semis which was damaging many of the 100+ year old homes in Port Norfolk as they rolled by.

Allowing water to flow freely between the bay and the marshland with an elevated highway is far better than the current causeway which prevents that flow. It's not like anyone is living there to be annoyed.

[bing101]

Umm... I pretty sure CA 37 is already 4 lanes the whole route from Novato to Vallejo?

Then again the highway could be threatened by rising water levels surrounding it, so that might justify new road?

Mainly the east end of CA-37 in Vallejo is 4 lanes and West end is 4 lanes wide.