Marc Levine bill seeks to speed up adding lane to Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, on Tuesday introduced a bill that would speed up the project to add a third eastbound lane to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, one of the North Bay’s most congested commutes.

The bill would require design work on the project to begin immediately while the project is going through an environmental review. Levine’s office said in a statement that it could speed up the project by as much as 18 months.

Environmental work on the project is already underway.

“The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is one of the worst bottlenecks in the North Bay evening commute,” Levine said in a statement. “This bridge was built and designed almost 60 years ago to have three lanes in each direction. Restoring the third eastbound lane will relieve a great deal of congestion. There is no doubt that the lane is needed, and it is prudent to do the design work immediately to speed up the process.”