We should expect a drying and warming trend this week and into the coming weekend. YAY! The rain previously predicted for tomorrow is now expected to fizzle-out before it reaches the Bay area, so we’re expecting dry conditions for the whole week. Tides: Tide peaks for this week are predicted to range between 5.3-ft and 6.2-ft. With the predicted...
The Traffic Engineering Division got the go ahead from Caltrans to install an All Way STOP at Merrydale Road and US 101 South Ramps! The work includes: painting stop legends and limit lines, refreshing striping, and installing STOP signs and advanced warning signs. Our maintenance crews will do the installation in the wee hours of...
Over the last several weeks we have seen an extraordinary amount of rainfall pass through Marin County (see Rain, Rain Go Away article). Storm weather services have categorized some of the storms as atmospheric rivers”, a flashy name for a plume of tropical moisture in the atmosphere that can result in heavy rainfall or snowfall...
The North Francisco Pump Station was built by Caltrans in 1999. Its purpose is to pump large amounts of water from the surrounding area including the freeway, the Gerstle Park, and Bret Harte neighborhoods into the bay. There are 4, 250 horsepower (hp) motors and 2, 30 hp pumps, each 40 feet long, at this...
Dear March, we don’t want any trouble from you. February was a little iffy, so just come in, sit down, and don’t touch anything! Last week another major storm hit the Bay Area. Localized flooding due to rainfall and tides were recurrent but, our well-prepared City Maintenance crews worked through the evening and early morning...
Over the past few weeks Valentine Corp. has removed and replaced the concrete barrier on the east side of the Grand Ave vehicle bridge. The new pedestrian bridge arrived Friday morning (March 8th) in two pieces and is being stored inside of the Toyota Marin parking lot so that final assembly and installation of the...
The SMART Larkspur Extension construction work on the Francisco Blvd. West realignment and Phase-1 of the Multi-Use Path (from Rice Street to Andersen Drive) has been slowed a bit due to the rain. Ghilotti Brothers was able to squeeze-in one concrete pour for the MUP down at the Anderson Street connection. There are two small...
The Traffic Engineering Division is working hard to get our traffic signals modernized, starting with video detection. The cameras were installed at 4 locations (Mission/Hetherton, 2nd/Hetherton, 2nd/Irwin, 2nd/Grand). The images below are of 2nd Street/Irwin Street. The “MioVision” fish eye camera provides a live stream of the intersection; the second image shows the cars from...
Over the next two weeks, Van Midde & Son Concrete will continue to work on the following Sun Valley locations: 150 Forbes Ave 1623 Fifth Ave 1702 Fifth Ave 210 H Street 222 H Street 1840 Fifth Ave 1848 Fifth Ave 1902 Fifth Ave 222 H street 149 Center Heavy rain and winter weather in...
Over the last couple of weeks, Theo Sanchez & Kevin McGowan of the Public Works Department have made presentations for the Pickleweed Advisory Board Committee and Parks & Recreation Commission to discuss the potential playground structures and gather additional feedback from the community. The Advisory Board and the Parks & Recreation Commission were both pleased...
Synopsis: Another atmospheric river (AR) storm has arrived to the Bay area. Coming from the south Pacific it will bring copious amounts of precipitation from the subtropics as it drifts slowly southward into the San Francisco Bay Area over the next 24 hours. It is predicted to then stall-out through late Tuesday night, resulting in...
City Employee: What’s that? You’re applying for an encroachment permit (EP)? Resident/Contractor: Yes, we’ll be painting, and we’ll need to place scaffolding on the sidewalk, I think we’ll need to take up two parking spaces as well. City Employee: Okay, you’ll need to apply for the EP here, jump through a ring of fire, tame...
The Traffic Division is completing an assessment of uncontrolled crossings throughout the City and we will be chipping away at improvements now through summertime. An uncontrolled crosswalk is anywhere there is a marked crosswalk and cross traffic does not have to stop except for when a pedestrian is present. In this initial assessment, we studied...
The SMART Larkspur Extension construction work on the Francisco Blvd. West realignment and Phase-1 of the Multi-Use Path (from Rice Street to Andersen Drive) is rapidly nearing completion. The section of roadway from 2nd Street to Irwin Drive was opened for traffic earlier this month. The Francisco Blvd. West and Rice Drive intersection, where the...
The Public Safety Center construction team has been finding ways to make progress and work around the storms. Currently, most of the structural steel has been erected and the metal framing has started at the ground level. The electrical, plumbing, and mechanical subcontractors have been working in the basement.
Fire Station #57 construction of interior walls is underway. Sheetrock continues to be installed and the contractor is moving toward mechanical, electrical and plumbing inspections before closing the walls. They are also chipping away at the site work while maximizing their efforts on every clear day that they can get. Despite the heavy rains, they...
The Contractor has been working in the rain and on the weekends to complete our new Fire Station 52. They are installing interior finishes and completing testing and commissioning of equipment. They will be pouring the last portion of the approach, curb, and sidewalk by the end of next week. Pavers, side gates and planting...
The Terra Linda Community Center (TLCC) is receiving new flooring in their main auditorium. The work is expected to be completed this week and we’re very happy with how it’s turning out. We went with a very durable vinyl product that we expect to last 15 to 20 years. Despite a few minor initial bumps...
Public Works employees Aaron Tubbs and Jim O’Hagan got a call about a fallen tree at 3:00 am on February 14th while working overnight during the storm. They found this in the roadway near Grand Ave and Villa Ave. A temporary detour was set-up until the tree contractor was able to clear the road.
Last Wednesday & Thursday San Rafael received almost 8” inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period over. On Wednesday evening our rain gauge displayed nearly 15 inches of rainfall for the year, 6 of those inches had been collected last 24 hours of that reading. Crazy!!! Crews from San Rafael Public Works worked around the...
The City’s contractor M3 Integrated Services has installed the playground equipment and is on track to install the resilient rubber surfacing the first week of March. Next week they will be working on the sidewalk between the Marin Bocce Federation and the B Street community center.
In between storm clean-up duties, the Parks Department was able to finish installing new drain lines to help alleviate a perpetual soggy corner of the Albert’s ball field. Work also continued on the ball field to prepare for the upcoming season, which starts 2/21/19. Parks staff are pictured as they rebuild the pitcher’s mound.
Did you know that you can follow which Sidewalk Repair Program properties have been completed from on our interactive Encroachment Permits Map? Simply click "Filters" on the left side, under "Permit Type" select "Sidewalk Repair Program". The click the three arrows in the top right of the left panel to collapse it to view the map...
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART) construction is progressing at the San Rafael Transit Center in preparation for SMART's rail extension to Larkspur, which is scheduled to be completed later this year. While we’re looking forward to being able to take SMART all the way to Larkspur, the construction to get this project completed will...
The San Rafael Department of Public Works, in collaboration with the San Rafael Community Services Department, is looking for your input regarding the replacement of the current play structures at Pickleweed Park. Surveys are available in both English and Spanish and will be open through February 21. Take the survey in English or Spanish.
Synopsis We should expect lingering rain showers this morning with a drying trend into the afternoon today. Drier conditions should prevail until early evening tomorrow where an atmospheric river is predicted to arrive bringing heavy rain and strong winds. This storm is predicted to bring about 2.65-inches of rain between 4PM Tuesday to 10PM Wednesday. ...
The City’s contractor Cal Elite Builders has been working diligently on installing the new PG&E primary line for the new transformer that will sit adjacent City Hall. They have also been placed 40 electrical vehicle (EV) charging station conduits for the 2 EV charging stations as well as future EV charging stations throughout the upper...
The City received a federal grant for the replacement of playground structures at Pickleweed Park. The project will remove the existing swings, slides, accessory structures, & sand which have been there for some 20 years and replace them with brand new structures & fill the play area with engineered wood fiber. We have conducted online...
The City’s contractor M3 Integrated Services poured the first of sidewalk this week and they have also started to assemble the playground equipment. The park is scheduled to open in April.
The City’s contractor Valentine Corporation has started rebuilding the slope above the lower concrete wall. The project has been plagued with weather delays and wet soil which has pushed the opening of Upper Irwin back to late April.
