State Grants Provide Key Push for Highway 37 Improvements

The California Transportation Commission (CTC) today approved a series of grants totaling more than $300 million to help reduce both congestion and flooding along State Route 37 between Novato and Vallejo while also spurring baylands restoration. These include some $220 million in State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) and state General Fund money for the Novato Creek Bridge replacement project plus another $14.1 million for related environmental and storm water mitigation work as well as $62.7 million though the State Transportation Improvement Program and the Local Transportation Climate Adaptation Program and $32.3 million in SHOPP funds for Phase 1 of the Sears Point-to-Mare Island Improvement Project. The funding awards will allow Caltrans to advertise construction contracts for both projects this fall.

Phase 1 of the Sears Point-to-Mare Island Improvement Project will include upgrades to the Sears Point interchange between highways 37 and 121 in Sonoma County; a roughly one-mile extension of the eastbound Highway 37 merge lane; and replacement of the existing 60-foot-long bridge over Tolay Creek with a higher, 375-foot-long span that will promote better tidal flow between San Pablo Bay and the historic Sonoma Baylands north of the highway. Later phases of the Sears Point-to-Mare Island improvements will include the addition of another travel lane in each direction as well as work to restore critical marshlands that protect the route from rising waters.

The Novato Creek Bridge project — at one of the most flood-prone segments of the entire 21-mile Highway 37 corridor — will feature construction of a 26-foot-high span designed to accommodate sea-level rise through 2130. Caltrans expects to begin construction in early 2027, with completion slated for 2030.