Highway 37 is focus of Town Hall this Wednesday

Highway 37, which touches four counties on its way from Novato to Vallejo, is getting a lot of attention these days in the wake of flooding on the commute-heavy highway’s Novato end this January and February.

But it’s been a troubled 21 miles for years, subject to ever-more-frequent traffic jams where it narrows to one lane in each direction at the top of San Pablo Bay.

First District Supervisor Susan Gorin is hosting a Town Hall meeting in Sonoma on Wednesday, April 5, to discuss recent flood impacts and the future of Highway 37. The meeting will cover not only the recent flooding but the future of Highway 37, given the ?continued impacts of rising sea levels.

“We understand how vital Highway 37 is to the residents and commuters living in Sonoma Valley,” said Supervisor Gorin. “This forum will help the community understand the current and future challenges this key connector faces, and potential solutions to enable continued safe passage.”

Gorin will be joined at the Town Hall by 2nd District Supervisor David Rabbitt, whose district is also transited by Highway 37. They are both members of the four-county SR 37 Policy Committee, comprised of three representatives each from Napa, Marin, Sonoma and Solano counties.

“We all recognize that Highway 37 is a vital east-west link,” said Rabbitt, who currently serves as the committee’s chair. “We need to make sure it’s going to be there in the future.”

Other participants will include Dan McElhinney of Caltrans, who will discuss current Highway 37 issues, including its closure during the winter rains and future scheduled work. Representatives from the Sonoma County Transportation Authority and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission will also be present, according to Rebecca Wachsberg of the Sonoma County Administrator’s Office.

Also expected to be on hand are Ed Diffendal and Linda Figg of United Bridge Partners, who will provide a presentation on UBP’s concept of a four-lane elevated causeway, paid for and supported by tolls. United Bridge officials say they can design and build such a highway more quickly and economically than the state, but to do so would require significant cooperation from the state to allow the privatization of the state highway. The SR 37 Policy Committee is currently engaged in reviewing this unsolicited proposal for full privatization.

The plan includes a portion of the revenue going to a permanent fund to conduct environmental restoration, according to Marc Holmes of the Bay Institute, an organization that has been tracking damage to the wetlands system over which much of Highway 37 crosses.

An anticipated sea level rise of 55 inches by the end of the century is expected to submerge almost the entire length of the highway, making significant infrastructure investment necessary. According to a recent Sonoma County Transportation Authority presentation to the county Planning Commission, there are no easy, nor inexpensive solutions: Berm and embankment support, a causeway (over land), or a combined bridge/causeway project over land and water are among the solutions proposed, and the cost range for such projects is estimated between $1.2 billion to $4.3 billion.

Adding to the climate risks the future may bring there’s the impact of a growing economy: The jobs/housing imbalance is one cause of congestion Bay Area-wide, and specifically for SR 37. Average annual daily trips are projected to increase from 45,000 in 2013 to 58,000 by 2040, according to the SCTA presentation, and many feel those projections are too conservative.

The loss of the Highway 37 route, or its significant deterioration, would have ripple effects across the North Bay, particularly along the other east-west routes linking Highway 101 and Interstate 80 – the rural Highway 116 to 12 route from Petaluma through Sonoma to Napa; and Interstate 580 from San Rafael to the East Bay.

A group of agencies exploring solutions to flooding and traffic on Highway 37 has taken its first significant step, funding a study that is anticipated to identify actual projects that can be built along the 21-mile roadway. But with construction funds lacking, officials are unsure when any of the future work might take place.

The Sonoma County Transportation Authority recently chipped in $30,000, the final piece of funding for the Highway 37 feasibility study. Other transportation agencies in Marin, Napa and Solano counties paid similar amounts while the Metropolitan Transportation Commission funded the bulk of the $1 million study by contractors Kimley Horn and AECOM.

The Town Hall meeting will be held at 6 p.m., on Wednesday, April 5, at the Sonoma Valley Veterans Memorial Hall, 126 First St. W.

Matt Brown of the Argus-Courier contributed to this report. Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.