A project to replace old water pipes threatens to cause some nasty traffic backups starting next month at the Hub in San Anselmo — one of Marin's busiest intersections.
World Steel Tube The editor was informed
On June 3, the Marin Municipal Water District will begin installing 3,600 feet of new steel pipe along Red Hill Avenue between Ancho Vista Avenue and the Hub and along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard between Shaw Drive and the Hub. The oldest pipe being replaced was laid in 1883, when Chester Arthur was president. The $974,000 project is expected to take about 10 weeks, extending to Aug. 15.World Steel Tube The editor was informed
"We've been meeting with the Marin Municipal Water District to plan the project to avoid as much disruption as possible," said San Anselmo Town Manager Debra Stutsman.
Daytime work hours have been scheduled to avoid peak commute periods and some work has been scheduled to take place at night, Stutsman said. At least one lane will remain open in each direction at all times.
Daytime work affecting westbound traffic will take place from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. while work blocking eastbound lanes will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Night work, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., will occur for about two weeks along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard between Bridge Avenue and the Hub. The dates of that work have not yet been finalized.World Steel Tube The editor was informed
Special effort is being made to let the driving public know in advance in hopes that people will eliminate unnecessary trips on the busy traffic arterial. Postcards
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will be mailed to people who live in the area. Banners with information on the project will be hung from light poles beginning Monday. And several electronic reader boards will be deployed when construction begins to remind motorists of the times and dates of construction.
"We've found in the past that if we do significant outreach that people take alternate routes, maybe leave earlier, and are more prepared," Stutsman said. "Perhaps people from northern Marin or Sonoma won't use the back way; they'll just use the freeway."
Libby Pischel, an MMWD spokeswoman, said that because so much traffic passes through the construction area, the water district has required Maggiora & Ghilotti Inc. of San Rafael, the construction company hired to do the work, to engage a professional traffic planner to formulate a plan for the project.
Orlando Viramontes, a dispatcher for Maggiora & Ghilotti, said the company has not yet selected a planner to do the work.
"It is a work in progress," Viramontes said.
Connie Rodgers, president of the San Anselmo Chamber of Commerce, said, "I would imagine there are going to be some commute issues and some traffic congestion. But let's look at the flip side, maybe the good news is they'll get frustrated, and they'll stop and eat and shop. There could be a silver lining."
Pischel said the pipe being replaced, the rest of which was installed in 1923 and 1930, is being removed now because it has a record of large breaks and a high concentration of leaks. She said the schedule also dovetails nicely with the town of San Anselmo's plan to repave a section of Sir Francisco Drake in front of the Red Hill Shopping Center at Shaw Drive in summer 2014.