Belvedere council questions need for Tiburon Boulevard bike lanes

Greenwood Beach Road is part of the San Francisco Bay Trail, which gets cyclists off Tiburon Boulevard and has a cut-through to direct them to the Old Rail Trail. But residents have long said that clogs their street and won the town’s support to explore the creation of a protected bike lane on the boulevard. Caltrans now plans to create that lane, but the Belvedere City Council worries that could slow boulevard traffic. (via Caltrans)

The Belvedere City Council wants Caltrans to do a focused traffic study ahead of the agency’s planned Tiburon Boulevard rehabilitation project, with councilmembers saying they’re concerned that planned bike lanes could increase congestion and pose a safety risk for vehicles and cyclists alike.

The council voted unanimously at its Jan. 22 meeting to send a letter voicing its concerns to Caltrans, which hopes to begin construction on the $19.7 million project in spring 2026.

Those concerns included plans to add a bike lane along Tiburon Boulevard when there is already a detour that connects cyclists to the San Francisco Bay Trail, citing safety and potential traffic slowdowns.

“Tiburon Boulevard is already a logjam during certain times of day … so I think it’s really important that we ask Caltrans to do a really thorough evaluation of cost-benefit in terms of adding bike lanes where a very safe road already exists on Greenwood Cove (Drive) all the way from the 76 (gas station) through to Blackie’s (Pasture),” said Councilmember Sally Wilkinson, a sentiment later echoed by colleagues Mayor Peter Mark, Vice Mayor Jane Cooper and Councilmember Nancy Kemnitzer.

Greenwood Cove Drive becomes Greenwood Beach Road near the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and runs parallel to Tiburon Boulevard along the bay.

But Greenwood Beach residents have been fighting to get cyclists off their street for more than a decade, complaining that hordes of high-speed riders and pods of tourists on rental bikes clog the road and create safety problems, including for children who use the road to ride to school.