The California Transportation Commission will vote Friday on a $95 million funding bid that would launch the long-delayed overhaul of Highway 37, the flood-prone route linking Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties.
Rep. Mike Thompson, who has directed federal money to the corridor, said the road’s problems have been deferred for decades. Thompson noted that officials had installed traffic barriers known as K-rails years ago to divide the two directions of traffic because a real fix was too expensive at the time. Now, the road is not only inadequate and unsafe but is going underwater.
Highway 37 runs close to sea level across the San Pablo Baylands and already faces regular storm closures and permanent flooding risks as the bay rises. Caltrans says the work would be built to hold up against sea level rise projected through 2050.
Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters and other supporters of the reconstruction vision gathered Wednesday at a nearby ranch, urging commissioners to approve the funding as traffic tops 40,000 vehicles daily and commute delays stretch past 90 minutes…