710 Freeway / Tunnel
San Rafael Metro Letter July 2012
There are two proposed routes for the extension of the 710 freeway which currently ends at Valley Blvd. just north of I-10. These two proposal will cut through the San Rafael neighborhoods. Post your comments on the SR 710 Facebook page.
The first (Metro proposal F-5 is an 8 to 10-lane freeway that will come out of a tunnel near the corner of San Rafael and San Remo, and then run above ground north to a multi-level interchange with the 134 Freeway. The route appears to destroy at least 150 neighborhood homes, including virtually all homes on Glen Summer and Annandale, and also many homes on other streets including La Loma, Laguna, Lagunita, Nithsdale, Melrose, and the northern ends of San Miguel, Club, and San Rafael. Businesses on Colorado, the San Rafael Park, and portions of the San Rafael school playgrounds and the Annandale Country Club would be removed, and the fire station also is threatened.
The other proposal (Metro proposal H-2) is a 6-lane highway that would run along Avenue 64, and then turn to the east as it approaches Colorado, continuing east to San Rafael Avenue. The route appears to destroy at least 70 neighborhood homes, including on Avenue 64, Doremus, Poppy Peak, Malcolm, Melrose, and the northern ends of Glen Summer, Annandale, San Miguel, Club, and San Rafael. This route would also destroy the San Rafael Park and it would necessitate the construction of a much larger interchange where San Rafael meets the 134 Freeway.
Click for a handout* that shows more information on these routes through the San Rafael neighborhoods as well as other routes that Metro is considering.
*These are not official Metro drawings (Metro has not released anything like these yet), but rather are based upon the plans that Metro has released. We cannot know Metro’s exact plans until Metro decides to share them with us. So, just because a particular house or street is (or is not) spared from the destruction in the drawings does not mean that will be the case in the final Metro designs. And in any event, noise, pollution, and lower property values will spread far beyond the actual right-of-way.
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