Marin Supervisors OK Marinwood U-Turn Ban

The Marin County Supervisors unanimously backed Tuesday afternoon an ordinance to ban U-turns and deter Highway 101 “freeway jumpers” in Marinwood.

The proposed traffic changes were unveiled to Marinwood residents by county and California Highway Patrol officials at a community meeting in April and went to the Marin County Board of Supervisors for a reading at the end of July.

The ordinance was the subject of a public hearing Tuesday before the board approved it.

One person spoke in support of the restrictions on Tuesday.

Here are the proposed restrictions during 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Monday through Friday:

1. Left-turn only at the intersection the southbound Hwy. 101 off-ramp and Miller Creek Road (preventing drivers from exiting and getting right back on the freeway).
2. No U-turns at westbound approach to intersection of Miller Creek Road and Marinwood Avenue.
3. No U-turns at northbound approach to intersection of Marinwood Ave. and Blackstone Drive.
4. No U-turns on southbound Marinwood Ave. between Miller Creek Road and the northernmost entrance to Marinwood Market. 

Morning commuters leaving Marinwood have had issues joining Highway 101, which moves at a glacial pace. Since around 2000, hundreds of drivers a day have practiced a form of “queue jumping” – getting off at the Marinwood exit and either getting right back on Hwy. 101 or taking a U-turn at one of three nearby intersections before doing the same. Although a traffic study showed that the various maneuvers saved only a few minutes at best, the practice has endured through several attempts to quell it, according to county officials.

This is the latest attempt by county and CHP officials to deal with so-called freeway jumpers. Previous efforts have included temporary and then permanent changes to the medians on Miller Creek Rd. – making them wider to deter U-turns – as well as reducing a lane on Miller Creek for the same reason. The southbound off-ramp was also narrowed to reduce the options for freeway jumpers.