Highway 37 widening has options, Caltrans wants feedback

Caltrans will present a series of options for widening a stretch of Highway 37 that runs along San Pablo Bay in Sonoma and Napa counties..

The Sears Point to Mare Island Improvement Project, which covers a 10.4-mile stretch, will be discussed during a public Zoom meeting 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Information is available online.

It’s among several items that could come up during the meeting on a Caltrans study about ways to improve Highway 37 where congestion, flooding and rising sea levels put the arterial at risk.

A second meeting specifically for the Sears Point to Mare Island project is scheduled for Feb. 2.

Attention falls on a “critical corridor” that links Highway 101 in Marin County to Interstate 80 in Solano County, according to Caltrans.

“It is subject to congestion and flooding and faces future risks from sea level rise, extreme weather events, and ecological and multimodal issues,” the agency reported. “Caltrans is undertaking a study that will examine an ultimate solution to address issues facing the roadway.”

Traffic in each direction is limited to one lane in the project area and officials are considering options like adding extra lanes, widening shoulders or turning the stretch into a three-lane road with a movable center median.

Under the latter option, a median can be shifted in either direction to create a second lane for the side of the road with heavier traffic. This would be similar to the movable median on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Highway 37 has evolved into a commuter route, Caltrans officials say, and congestion has become a daily issue that necessitates improvements.

“It’s adding lanes, one lane or another, to reduce congestion especially during commutes,” Caltrans spokesman Jeff Weiss said.

The California Highway Patrol reported rear-end collisions are common on that stretch and mostly occurred in bumper-to-bumper conditions.

There were 91 collisions in 2017 and that dropped to 22 collisions in 2018. There were 28 collisions in 2019, 11 in 2020 and eight in 2021.

Officer Darrel Horner said it’s too early to say whether the improvement project will reduce collisions, but he encourages travelers to drive cautiously on Highway 37.

“Often times I hear involved parties stating if they had more following distance between them and the vehicle ahead, they would have been able to stop in time when traffic ahead slowed or stopped suddenly,” Horner said. “So many of these crashes can be prevented by adjusting driving habits such as; increasing following distance, eliminating distractions while driving, having a high visual horizon by looking ahead to see what's coming, and giving yourself plenty of time to get to where you're going to avoid being in a rush.”

A cost and timeline for the project were not immediately available.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi