South San Francisco, CA May 5, 2015 Submitted by Caltrans
U.S.101 San Mateo County Ramp-Metering Project
Where are the metering lights located?
Caltrans and its project partners are installing ramp meters on U.S.101 at various onramp locations between State Route 92 in San Mateo and the San Mateo/San Francisco County line.
What are the specific ramp locations?
Ramp meters have been installed at 17 onramps in the southbound direction of the U.S. Route 101 Ramp Metering Project. They include the following locations along northbound Route 101:
- Southbound Route 101 and Beatty Avenue
- Southbound Route 101 and Lagoon Road
- Southbound Route 101 and Airport/Bayshore Road
- Southbound Route 101 and Oyster Point Boulevard
- Southbound Route 101 and ProduceAvenue/Airport
- Southbound Route 101 and I-380 Westbound/N.Access Road
- Southbound Route 101 and San Bruno Diagonal
- Southbound Route 101 and SFO International Terminal
- Southbound Route 101 and SFO Domestic Terminal
- Southbound Route 101 and Millbrae Avenue Westbound
- Southbound Route 101 and Millbrae Avenue Eastbound
- Southbound Route 101 and Broadway/Rollins Road
- Southbound Route 101 and Poplar Avenue
- Southbound Route 101 and 3rd Avenue Westbound Loop
- Southbound Route 101 and 4th Avenue Eastbound Diagonal
- Southbound Route 101 and Fashion Island Drive
- Southbound Route 101 and SR 92 Eastbound Diagonal
What happens when they are activated? What should I do?
Ramp metering will begin in the southbound direction of U.S. Route 101 in San Mateo County at 17 locations from the San Francisco/San Mateo County line and State Route 92 in San Mateo.
April 28, 2015, ramp meters will be activated, but meters will rest in green. May 5, 2015, ramp meters will start cycling during southbound PM peak time from 2:30pm to 8:00pm. May 12, 2015, ramp meters will start cycling during southbound AM peak time from 6:00am to 10:00am.
All on-ramps will operate at “1 car per green” except for one freeway to freeway connector ramp which will meter and operate at “2 cars per green”. The one freeway connector is the eastbound State Route 92 to southbound U.S. 101 Connector.
What else should I know about ramp meter operations?
The ramp meters may start off resting-in-green and start metering when conditions on the freeway mainline needs metering. The meters may also remain green the whole peak period due to issues with available storage on the on-ramp. Once the ramp starts metering the signal lights will cycle red-green. Caltrans will monitor conditions. Be aware as you approach ramp meters as you may need to stop and follow the indicators on the ramp metering signal head. Also, you should watch for “METER ON” advance warning signs. These signs warn motorists that the on-ramp is metered, and of approaching slowdowns at metered on-ramps. You do not need to stop at a dark signal at a metered on-ramp.
Following activation, Caltrans will monitor ramp metering vehicle activity and optimize systems as needed. In addition, ramp meters could be subject to time changes based on monitoring results.
Who made the decision to activate ramp meters in San Mateo County?
Caltrans, City County Association of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG), Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
What is ramp metering? How will it benefit me?
Ramp metering is a traffic management strategy, which uses traffic signals and accompanying ramp metering equipment and techniques to improve flow on the freeway system by managing the on-ramps.
Where can I go online to get the latest project information and traffic information?
For additional project information, including maps, pictures and other project-related information, visit us at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/
For the latest traffic information, follow us on Twitter at: https://mobile.twitter.com/CaltransD4 http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/rmfaq.html
Is there someone I can contact if I have additional questions?
You can email or call the following people:
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Gidget Navarro, Caltrans Public Information Officer, San Mateo County gidget.navarro@dot.ca.gov
510-286-5574
Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) John Goodwin, Public Information Officer jgoodwin@mtc.ca.gov 510-817-5862
Neighbors have weighed in on the efficiency of these lights on our FB pg:
• Jay HORRIBLE! Messed up my ENTIRE day!! Who’s the idiot that thought it was a great idea to put these in?!?! What normally takes me less than 2 minutes when getting off 101 onto S. Airport & onto Baden now took me close to 10 minutes! Everyone backed up to the Holiday Inn trying to get to the other side & go on 101 South. Stupidest thing ever especially bc dumb drivers don’t know how to get in the correct lanes & even those of us who are not going on the freeway suffer!
• Laura The lights mess up all up and down 101. Causes back up on 380 and ever on ramp will causes a massive accident.
• Margaretta I don’t see the point of these lights. Especially the one at the end of 380 connecting to 101 not northbound. I feel like a sitting duck waiting to get rear ended.
• Samantha It’s terrible! I work at downtown SSF and both 101S entrances were backed up with everyone stuck at stop lights at least 2-3 times per light! I have been working at the same spot for 5 years and traffic is the worst today. 101S always has some light traffic around SSF area and I did not see any less cars on the freeway today but a lot more cars stuck on Oyster Point and Grand! What a waste of our tax money to make our lives more difficult!
• Pat I have not seen any benefit to any of the metering lights on 101. All they do is back up traffic on the entrances, sometimesw into street traffic. The freeway traffic has had no notable difference. Bad decision all around!
• Carey Did they even do any research or surveying for all of these crapass metering lights? I have yet to find one area that has improved because of them. Quite the opposite. They made our already horrific traffic problems even worse. It makes for a cranky commute which eventually is going to lead to more pissed off drivers and more road rage incidents.
• Dino They succeeded in the sense that I no longer use the freeway to commute to work.. Lame idea..
Leti Gomez That’s it! I’m teleporting!
• Carey If I had a way not to use the freeway, that is how I would go. Sadly, I work in the city and there are no back roads, nor public transportation in my work neighborhood. Except for the Caltrain. But based on all of the vandalized cars in their parking lot here lately, there isn’t a chance of me leaving my car there while I’m at work.
• Jennifer While we’re bashing the metering lights, N/B Westborough is entirely too long. The car in front of you is a mile away before you get the green.
• Carey The one at Oyster Point headed N/B at 101 is the same damn way. Sometimes the car in front of me is almost to the Brisbane exit before my light turns green.
• Karen I was just about to say the same thing, but Jennifer S. beat me to it. I call it the “punishment for driving alone light”. And, every single time I’m waiting at that metering light, at least 5 cars, with solo occupants, blow right through the HOV lane! I just know that if I did it, a cop would be right there waiting for me.
• Sandie I was wondering why it was so crowded on the freeways at 7:20 this morning! Those metering lights should be shoved up the persons you know where who thought this would be a good idea! Waste of money, gas and time!!!! Idiots!!!
• Chrissy i don’t see the point of these lights. there’s not much of a difference when there is traffic and when there’s not traffic you’re trying to merge at a slower speed than the cars already on the freeway.
• Kevin Really love(not) the one on So Airport, there’s room for 3 cars(or 4 bikes) to go through light
• Eric I miss that sight on the hill dam!!
* Barbara Makes life easier………..
They put the Light at the END of the Ramp entering 101 South. So when the light turns GREEN you have 10 yards to accelerate to 65MPH as you enter traffic. This is insane.