Now you see it, now you don't.
Motorists traveling along San Rafael's Lincoln Avenue this past week saw a home one minute, a vacant lot the next as the California Department of Transportation began demolish-
ing homes on the east side of the street as part of a $117 million effort to widen Highway 101.
The work to clear the homes, beginning with 11 along the busy artery and on side streets in the Brookdale neighborhood, is coupled with asbestos abatement in the area.
Some homes are being leveled to aid in the addition of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes aimed at closing the 4.5-mile gap in the car-pool lane between Lucky Drive and North San Pedro Road. Others are being removed to preserve the state agency's railroad right of way should a future commuter rail line be approved between Sonoma County and San Rafael, Caltrans officials said.
In all, 20 houses and apartment complexes will be demolished along Brookdale and Lincoln avenues, in addition to one house on Myrtle Avenue. Five other Lincoln Avenue properties also will lose a portion of their land.
Work to add the car-pool lanes already is under way between Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Interstate 580. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2006. Work on the San Rafael section is expected to begin in early summer.
Demolition of the homes might represent a congestion-free future for some, but not everyone is happy to see bulldozers.
Patrick Murphy, president of the Lincoln-San Rafael Hill Neighborhood Association, said he and his neighbors have worked for years with Caltrans for some type of Highway 101 noise abatement.
He said the sudden razing of homes is just another case of Caltrans' failure to keep people informed.
"Caltrans has a total disregard for communities, this seems to be standard operating procedure," he said. "I find it a little disruptive and, quite frankly, disconcerting. I've been here 24 years; it's hard to accept change, especially when it's visual. The real problem was no one notified us of this."
Brigetta Smith, a spokeswoman for Caltrans, said people were told work would be starting soon, but how many people were informed wasn't clear.
"They were notified," she said. "I'm not sure to what extent but notification was done."
Contact Jennifer Upshaw via e-mail at jupshaw@marinij.com
From the Marin IJ | |
Saturday, February 4, 2012
