Live Radio
photo credit: CaltransFar left, cars traveling on the newly-constructed northbound lanes of U.S. 101 through the 'Novato Narrows.'
Expanded carpool hours are coming to Highway 101, once the widening of the Novato Narrows project is complete.
Currently, in Sonoma County, carpool hours are 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6:30 p.m. in both directions.
In Marin County, they are 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. southbound and 4:30 to 7 p.m. northbound.
O’Donnell said the new hours were determined using traffic data from the summer of 2024.
“There were a lot of meetings leading up to this,” O'Donnell said.
“Between Marin County and Sonoma County, along with MTC, which is the Metropolitan Transportation Commission...after those meeting concluded, there there was a Managed Lane Committee that voted on the hours, and that was Caltrans, MTC and CHP."
O'Donnell said the agency's final decision was reached in April 2025.
The new uniform set of hours will apply along the entire 52-mile corridor from Windsor to Sausalito once the project is complete, which O’Donnell said is expected in the latter part of this summer.
The project hit a major milestone on Friday when northbound traffic was shifted to the newly constructed northbound lanes, allowing for construction of a new median and concrete barrier.
