SRJC student and Novato resident Tony Mariscal told the Press Democrat that the commute to school costs him $65 for premium every other week. Others interviewed said that the higher prices are difficult to stomach without seeing their dollars at work.

“If they’re raising the tax for roads, cool, but I don’t see it. If I see improvements, increase gas by 50 cents a gallon, sure,” said 26-year-old Taylor Cosgrove.

After Regional Measure 3 was approved by voters on June 5, 2018, all seven Bay Area state-owned toll bridges except for the Golden Gate Bridge will increase $3 in the next 6 years. The first $1 raise took place on January 1 this year. The next $1 will be added at the beginning of 2022, and the last dollar in 2025. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority said that the ballot measure will provide $4.45 billion towards “traffic relief and transit improvement,” including the 101 Highway Marin-Sonoma Narrows.

Supervisor David Rabbitt told the Argus-Courier, “It will be a pain during construction, but it will be well worth it in the long run” and that he is glad they “can finally put the project to rest.” 

Expansion began in 2001 and is expected to be finalized by late 2023 between both Sonoma and Marin counties, having cost over $1 billion.

Director of projects and programming for the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, known as SCTA, James Cameron explained that the SMART train schedule would not be impacted by road work, but that 101 commuters should expect heavier traffic. 

“You have to maintain traffic while building it. That’s why it takes three years,” Cameron said to the Argus-Courier. 2020 will be spent working in the median, while the following two years will focus on widening northbound and southbound lanes, respectively.

The new bike path parallel to the 101 running from San Antonio Road to Petaluma Boulevard South is likely to also see closures for the next three years.

ABC 7 News reported that Caltrans said if they had received all of the funding from the start, the project would only have required five years to complete. Eighteen years later, Sonoma and Marin County residents are still left waiting at least another four years.

For some SSU students, the Highway 101 widening may seem like a temporary inconvenience. Others, however, cannot remember a time where there has not been pending construction — at this point, it’s nearly as old as incoming freshmen.