Marin Safe Routes ranks Lucky Drive top for Corte Madera; advocates press town to revive southern Greenway link
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Summary
Marin Safe Routes presented a corridor-based prioritization that places Lucky Drive at the top for Corte Madera and lists a southern Greenway segment (the so-called Whale Trail) as critical; residents and BPAC members urged the town to pursue design funding and interjurisdictional coordination.
Marin Safe Routes to Schools staff told the Corte Madera Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) that a countywide effort to consolidate decades of reported walking and biking issues reduced roughly 500 reports to about 236 candidate issues and then ranked projects by corridor. "We started out with about 500 issues. We got them down to about 236," the presenter said.
For Corte Madera, the highest-priority item identified by the county team was Lucky Drive; other higher-tier projects listed include the Santa Marker spur toward Neil Cummins, segments on Paradise Drive and Cove School approaches, and a southern segment of the North–South Greenway that runs behind Trader Joe’s and adjacent mobile home parks.
Public speakers and BPAC members pressed for that southern segment — which several speakers called the "Whale Trail" for outreach purposes — to be elevated for design and funding. "There are literally millions of dollars that have already been invested in this project that nobody talks about," said Patrick Seidler of WTB TAM, urging Corte Madera to show leadership on the multi-jurisdictional gap.
Matt Hartzel of WTB TAM noted ownership and funding steps that affect implementation, saying TAM "has already paid SMART $850,000 for the right to build a pathway on that right of way," a fact intended to help secure next-phase work.
Staff told BPAC the county has capacity for about five engineer-led walk audits each year; combined with a separate school-safety program that will fund additional audits, that figure could rise to 15 audits countywide. Staff asked BPAC for feedback on local priorities that could be submitted to Parametrics (the consultant) ahead of the county’s final winnowing.
Why it matters: committee members and speakers said the southern segment would connect low-income housing, schools and transit (the Larkspur Ferry and SMART station) and argued that elevating a design-phase effort could make Corte Madera the lead jurisdiction pushing a multi-agency solution.
What’s next: BPAC members voiced support for recommending the Lucky Drive concept and advancing design discussion for the southern segment to the town council for possible inclusion in next year’s work plan and budget.