The decades-long, multi-phase and multi-agency effort to widen U.S. 101 to three lanes in each direction between Novato and Petaluma reached a successful conclusion, with work crews opening the third lane to traffic along the final construction segment on Monday.
To celebrate the occasion, MTC Commissioners on Friday joined state legislators, Marin and Sonoma county elected officials, Caltrans and county transportation agency staff and many others for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at Olompali State Historical Park north of Novato.
MTC over the years has directed hundreds of millions of federal, state and regional dollars to keep more than a dozen separate projects moving forward in the 17-mile corridor formerly known as the Marin-Sonoma Narrows.
"The fact there are so many of us here to celebrate speaks to the partnerships and the multiple pots of money needed to take all these projects from conception to construction to completion," noted MTC Commissioner and Santa Rosa City Council member Victoria Fleming.
Though Caltrans reminds drivers that some additional work — including shoulder paving, striping, sign installation and drainage improvements — must still be completed before the final segment is officially finished, the opening of a third lane in each direction north of Novato establishes a continuous 52-mile-long carpool lane between Mill Valley in Marin County and Windsor in Sonoma County. The final phase of the project also established a continuous bikeway between Novato and Petaluma.
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