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September 2003
Project Update: Bayfront
Expressway
Widening Project Completed Three Months Early
New turn lanes are helping to speed traffic on the widened
Bayfront Expressway, which delivers traffic to and from the Dumbarton Bridge. (Photo: John
Huseby, Caltrans)
Motorists traveling between the East Bay and San Mateo County via the Dumbarton Bridge now
have a smoother, faster commute thanks to the completion of a project to widen and upgrade
the Bayfront Expressway/State Route 84 between the bridge and Marsh Road in Menlo Park.
Previously, the expressway was six lanes wide between the bridge and University Avenue,
where it narrowed to four lanes. Crews added a lane in each direction from University
Avenue to Marsh Road so that the expressway is now six lanes wide along its entire length.
Shoulders also were widened to a standard width of 10 feet, and additional dedicated turn
lanes were installed at key intersections.
Local officials gathered in late July to announce the opening of the new lanes to traffic
— three months earlier than expected.
“The expressway is only three miles long, but it’s a critical link for the
60,000 motorists who use the roadway daily,” said MTC Executive Director Steve
Heminger.
The Bayfront Expressway widening is part of a $1.6 billion package funded by $1 of the $2
toll paid on the seven state-owned toll bridges. The bridge improvement program is overseen
by MTC in its role as the Bay Area Toll Authority.
The $36 million Bayfront Expressway project includes:
- widening Willow Road and University Avenue from the railroad tracks to State Route
84;
- upgrades to a parallel bicycle/ pedestrian pathway, which links to the Dumbarton
Bridge bicycle path and is part of the regional Bay Trail; and
- work to upgrade the traffic signal system along the Bayfront Expressway, which will
be completed in September.
Viewing areas have been installed along the salt flats for Bay Trail users. In the
final phase, $650,000 will be spent to protect more than eight acres of habitat for the
endangered salt marsh harvest mouse and create more than three acres of seasonal wetlands
in the Ravenswood Triangle.
The widening project will provide relief for the East Palo Alto community by taking the
burden off the city’s chief artery, University Avenue, and encouraging drivers to use
the Marsh Road/U.S. 101 interchange instead.
Caltrans was responsible for the design and construction of the expressway widening.
— Réka Goode
As part of the expressway project, the Bay Trail was upgraded.
(Map by Peter Beeler)
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