Editorial: Rail Should Come First on a New Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

Assembly member Marc Levine floats idea of a replacement bridge.

Chunks of the Richmond-San Rafael (RSR) bridge are falling off. And now North Bay Assemblyman Marc Levine is discussing replacing the 63-year-old span.

But if we’re going to replace it, does it make sense to rebuild it as another freeway bridge? “Where is the transit piece of this? The same piece that has been missing from the discussion of the RSR Bridge added car lane project,” wrote Bike East Bay’s Dave Campbell, in an email to Streetsblog.

As part of its planning, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has already obtained an estimate from Caltrans of $8.2 billion to replace the RSR bridge with another car bridge.

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