The Sausalito City Council will face a choice about the future of Bridgeway at a special meeting on March 29 at 1 p.m.

Known by bicyclists across the Bay Area, Sausalito’s Bridgeway is one of the most-ridden roads in the region.

Between locals making short trips, Marin-to-San Francisco commuters, visiting tourists and zippy recreational riders, Bridgeway can see thousands of riders a day. The half-mile stretch of seawall between Golden Gate Market and the ferry landing is one of the most picturesque roads in Marin, and that’s saying a lot.

However, as it is currently configured, it serves no one well. The street lacks dedicated bike lanes, causing drivers to wait behind slow-moving riders or pass by illegally using the center turn lane. There are no crosswalks for half a mile between Main Street and Princess Street (a 10-minute walk for an able-bodied person), leading pedestrians to cross dangerously midblock without refuge or signage. Delivery drivers serving the businesses that are the lifeblood of Sausalito are forced to park illegally in the center turn lane because there are no delivery zones on the curb.

Although the center turn lane was originally intended to facilitate emergency vehicle access to the southern part of the city, its frequent use for delivery parking means that fire trucks and ambulances are more likely to be blocked by an unloading box truck than use the lane to bypass traffic. These complaints are not anecdotal — the 2024 Marin County “Local Road Safety Plan” designated this section of Bridgeway as part of the “high-collision network” for having an above-average rate of injury crashes compared to other city streets.

Happily, there is an opportunity to improve Bridgeway for everyone. Thanks to two grants, Sausalito has a plan ready to be approved by the City Council, as well as money to repave the street (which is badly degraded) at the same time.

This plan, which advocates call “Better Bridgeway,” creates dedicated loading zones along the curb, allowing delivery drivers to do their important work without darting across moving traffic (a delivery driver was hit and killed doing just this in 2007). This also ensures that our first responders will not be forced to maneuver their vehicles around trucks parked in the middle of the road when traveling to a fire or other emergency, thus improving response times.

With delivery moved to the curb, painted bike lanes can be provided, one running northbound next to the bayside curb (creating more buffer between pedestrians and car traffic) and the other running southbound next to the parked cars. Designated as a “proven safety countermeasure” bike lanes give bicyclists their own space on the street and also allow drivers to safely pass without veering into the center turn lane, improving roadway efficiency and reducing congestion. Finally, the plan proposes marked crosswalks at Golden Gate Market and at Scoma’s/Trident building — locations where pedestrians most frequently cross.

Perhaps the best part is that, because the plan aligns with regional goals of completing the San Francisco Bay Trail, the city has been promised the funds to implement it and repave the street, freeing up local dollars for other badly needed infrastructure projects.

What seems like a no-brainer change to this outdated road is being challenged by a few vocal locals, who claim that such a project would “ruin the city.” While change can be hard, Sausalito is resilient enough to navigate a few growing pains, and we at the bicycle coalition believe that the proposed plan would benefit all of Bridgeway’s many diverse users.

Is the plan a perfect one? Of course not. A long-term vision would look to address sea-level rise and provide a space for bicyclists outside of the roadway, but such an effort will cost tens of millions and would be years off. Let us not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the better.

Please join us in supporting the Better Bridgeway plan at the special meeting. Learn more about the plan at BetterBridgeway.org and consider signing the petition.

Warren J. Wells is policy and planning director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.