December 10 marked a historic day in Marin County as the Cal Park Tunnel was officially opened to a cheering crowd of several hundred cyclists and walkers.
A crowd of several hundred cheering cyclists attending the official opening of the Cal Park Tunnel on December 10th. Photo by Tom Boss
Published: January, 2011
December 10 marked a historic day in Marin County as the Cal Park Tunnel was officially opened to a cheering crowd of several hundred cyclists and walkers. After the opening ceremony, which included speeches from elected officials, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition’s (MCBC) Deb Hubsmith, the Marin County Department of Public Works, and Caltrans, hundreds of walkers, and then cyclists took their chance to walk or ride through the tunnel, which was last used by freight trains in the 1970s.
“This one of the happiest days of my life,” said Deb Hubsmith, advocacy director for MCBC. The organization has worked since its inception in 1998 to open the tunnel by collaborating with public agencies.
Other local citizens, such as Jean Starkweather, had been laying the groundwork for an eventual re-opening of the tunnel for some 20 years prior. The tunnel will be open seven days a week from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. The total length of the pathway is just over a mile; the tunnel itself is a short 1,100 feet. Riding between San Rafael and Larkspur to get to the Ferry Terminal now takes 15 minutes less if you use the tunnel route instead of continuing to the end of Anderson Drive and continuing down Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, and it will be faster to ride a bike between the two destinations than to drive in rush hour traffic.
The Cal Park Tunnel was originally constructed in 1884, with significant renovations taking place in the mid-portion of the twentieth century. Originally designed to haul lumber and freight, and then later passengers, it was sealed shut in 1978 after a series of fires and structural collapses. Today, it will carry bicyclists and pedestrians between Larkspur and San Rafael. It is also part of the future SMART corridor with a planned station just behind the Larkspur Century Theater. Bicyclists and pedestrians are completely separated from the future train by a tunnel within a tunnel, and the tunnel includes cell phone access and emergency cameras. The tunnel can be accessed via a pathway on the southbound lane of Anderson Drive in San Rafael, just across from the Office Depot, and just behind the Larkspur Century Theater in Larkspur (very close to the Marin Airporter).
MCBC thanks the following agencies for their work to help make this historic and keystone project possible: the County of Marin, SMART, the Transportation Authority of Marin, Caltrans, the City of San Rafael, the City of Larkspur, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, MTC and the untold thousands of supporters of MCBC over the years.
The 1,100 feet long Cal Park Tunnel saves 15 minutes on a typical ride to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. Photo by Tom Boss
