BILL NUMBER: AB 157	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 31, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 25, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Levine

                        JANUARY 20, 2015

   An act to add Section 30910.7 to the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 157, Levine. Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
   Existing law specifies the powers and duties of the Department of
Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and the
Bay Area Toll Authority with respect to the collection and
expenditure of toll revenue from the 7 state-owned toll bridges
within the geographic jurisdiction of the commission, including the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
   This bill, if the commission and the department develop a project
to open the third lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to
automobile traffic on the eastbound level and to bicycle traffic on
the westbound level, would authorize the lead agency to complete the
design work for the project simultaneously with the environmental
review conducted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality
Act.
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge opened on September 1, 1956. At
the time of construction, the bridge was one of the longest bridges
in the world and was constructed at a cost of $62 million.
   (b) The initial construction, with the help of additional funding
provided by the state (Chapter 159 of the Statutes of 1955), provided
for the construction of six 12-foot wide lanes. The six lanes were
initially comprised of three lanes in both the eastbound and
westbound directions.
   (c) In 1977, the little-used third lane on the Richmond-San Rafael
Bridge was closed to allow for a pipeline to transport eight million
gallons of water a day from the East Bay Municipal Utility District
to drought stricken Marin County. In 1978, the pipeline was removed
and the third lane was restriped as an emergency shoulder.
   (d) In 1989, following the Loma Prieta earthquake and the closure
of the San Francisco Bay Bridge from October 17 to November 18,
inclusive, the third lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was
opened in both the eastbound and westbound directions to help ease
traffic flow across the bay.
   (e) The possibility of opening the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to
bicycle and pedestrian access has been debated for over three decades
since the 1977 closure of the third lane. In 2001, plans for bicycle
access were rejected by the Department of Transportation for safety
reasons. Alternative plans to open the bridge to bicycle and
pedestrian access that address safety are currently under
development.
   (f) The total estimated cost of reestablishing the third lane of
traffic in the eastbound direction on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge,
reconfiguring the bike path on the east side of the bridge, and
constructing a bike path on the westbound level of the bridge is $65
million.
   (g) In the interest of improving traffic flow, maximizing existing
resources, and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from the
traffic backup on the eastbound bridge approach that impacts traffic
on Highway 101, it is necessary that the third lane of the bridge be
opened to traffic at the earliest possible date.
  SEC. 2.  Section 30910.7 is added to the Streets and Highways Code,
to read:
   30910.7.  If the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the
department develop a project to open the third lane on the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to automobile traffic on the eastbound
level and to bicycle traffic on the westbound level, the lead agency
may, to the extent feasible, complete the design work for the project
simultaneously with the environmental review conducted pursuant to
the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing
with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
  SEC. 3.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to open the third lane of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
to traffic at the earliest possible date, it is necessary for this
act to take effect immediately.