Help Shape San Rafael’s Future for Walking, Biking, and Rolling

Review the draft Citywide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and submit comments by June 24

Is it possible for the City of San Rafael to make it safer, easier, and more comfortable to walk, bike, and roll to schools, work, shopping, and other everyday destinations? Yes, it can be accomplished by updating the 2018 Citywide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan to reaffirm community priorities, make travel more accessible and connected, and incorporate the latest best practices.

The City released the draft of the new plan on June 2, opening it up for public review. This plan provides a long-term roadmap for improving San Rafael's sidewalks, bikeways, shared-use paths, street crossings, and connections between neighborhoods.

Community members are encouraged to review the draft and submit comments by June 24, 2026.

What is the plan?

The Citywide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan is San Rafael's comprehensive framework for improving mobility for people who walk, bicycle, run, use mobility aids, and roll throughout the city.

The draft evaluates existing streets and paths, travel patterns, land uses, connections to transit and important destinations, and bicycle- and pedestrian-related collision trends. Based on that evaluation, the plan identifies infrastructure projects, supporting programs, policies, and implementation priorities to help create a more complete and connected transportation network.

The plan is organized around four goals:

• Connectivity: Improve local and regional connections to schools, transit, jobs, shopping, parks, and other destinations.

• Comfort: Create accessible and welcoming transportation options for people of all ages and abilities.

• Vision Zero: Work toward eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

• Implementation: Establish priorities and pursue the funding and partnerships needed to deliver visible improvements.

What does the draft recommend?

The draft includes proposed improvements throughout northern, central, and southeastern San Rafael, including:

• Improvements at 31 intersections

• More than 8 miles of sidewalk, walkway, and shared-use path improvements

• Approximately 30 miles of proposed bikeways

Recommendations range from safer street crossings and missing sidewalk connections to bicycle boulevards, protected bikeways, shared-use paths, improved lighting, bicycle parking and better connections to transit.

The plan also identifies a group of high-priority projects to guide future investment. These priority projects were identified using a scoring matrix that factors insafety, equity, public feedback, access to important destinations, network gaps, and the feasibility of securing funding and delivering improvements.

Why is the plan important?

San Rafael serves as Marin County's largest city and a major center for employment, education, government services, shopping, and transit. However, highways, rail lines, waterways, hills, high-traffic streets, and gaps in the existing network can make some trips difficult, inconvenient, or uncomfortable without a car.

The plan provides a coordinated approach for addressing those challenges. It will help the City focus resources, pursue grants, coordinate improvements with other roadway and infrastructure projects, and work with regional partners to create safer and more useful connections.

However, the draft plan is not a construction schedule, it is specifically a planning and prioritization document. Any potential individual projects will still require further study, design, funding, and additional community engagement before they move forward.

Submit your comments by June 24

Community input has helped shape the draft plan throughout its development. This has included workshops, community events, online surveys, interactive maps, and meetings with the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

This is the community's opportunity to review the complete draft before it is finalized at a City Council meeting later this summer.

Please submit comments via email by June 24, 2026, to [email protected].