Bay Area

40-Plus Miles of Pavement Preservation to Begin

Improving roadway conditions across unincorporated areas of Marin has been an ongoing commitment of the County for years and is one of the top priorities for the Board of Supervisors. Each year, DPW aims to improve a balance of local, arterial and collector roads, approaching the selection strategically with a long-term goal of overall network improvement.

Published

4 years ago

June 9, 2022

Oakland Post

Preventative maintenance helps extend the useful life of pavement and can delay when a street needs to be repaved, avoiding expensive and disruptive rehabilitation projects. This image shows work completed last year on Atherton Avenue in eastern Novato.

$3 million dollar project will provide maintenance for about 10% of county roads

Courtesy of Marin County

The Marin County Department of Public Works (DPW) will begin a road sealant project in late summer, conducting preventative maintenance on over 40 miles of roads in unincorporated areas of Marin, which accounts for approximately 10% of the county-maintained road network.

The project will address various roadways in Lucas Valley, Marinwood, Santa Venetia, Greenbrae, Kentfield, Strawberry, Tamalpais, Hicks Valley, Nicasio, Point Reyes, San Geronimo Valley and unincorporated San Rafael. The estimated $3 million project is funded by the County’s Road and Bridge Rehabilitation fund.

Preliminary site work and pavement sealing of non-residential roads is anticipated to begin in early June. The sealing of residential roads is scheduled to start in August and anticipated to be completed by November 2022. However, work may be delayed by wet weather.

Construction is expected to take place from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will require traffic control measures. This will include lane closures with up to 10-minute delays. Depending on location, work may sometimes need to be done on weekends. There will also be residential road closures of up to seven hours when required on weekdays. The targeted roads will not be worked on simultaneously, but instead will be staggered in strategic groups to complete the work more efficiently.

For residential areas, schedule information will be provided seven days in advance and again by door hanger 24 hours ahead of any road closures. Roadway signage will be in place 72 hours in advance of any lane closures that will impact traffic.

Some non-residential roads that have tight curves or substantial tree cover, such as Lucas Valley Road from Big Rock to Nicasio, will also require short term road closures. Such situations will be publicized in advance on DPW’s social media profiles, as well as via on-site message boards and letters to directly impacted residents.

Preventative maintenance helps extend the useful life of pavement and can delay when a street needs to be repaved, avoiding expensive and disruptive rehabilitation projects. This proactive approach calls for keeping good roads in good condition, rather than allowing them to fully deteriorate through their lifecycle.

“Deteriorating roadways have become a nationwide challenge and waiting to replace failed pavement results in tremendously expensive and disruptive projects,” said Eric Miller, Assistant Director of DPW. “In Marin, we are focusing on cost-effective, sustainable pavement preservation work to help incrementally improve our overall pavement condition while also striving to keep our maintenance backlog from increasing.”

Relative to major rehabilitation or reconstruction, there are various preservation treatments that can be applied to a road segment quickly and for a fraction of the cost, making them an inherently sustainable activity and a financially responsible option. The work often utilizes low environmental impact treatments to prolong the life of the pavement. Compared to major rehabilitation activities, pavement preservation requires significantly less energy and mined materials, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions over time.

For example, during the 2021 paving season, DPW completed the $1.6 million Lucas Valley Road curve realignment project, a $1.6 million roadway rehabilitation project in northern Marin’s Upper Lucas Valley area, two sets of preventative maintenance projects across unincorporated Marin (one for 19.6 miles and one for 9.5 miles), various roadway improvements in the Loma Verde area of unincorporated Novato, pavement work on Redwood Highway Frontage Road in Strawberry, and extensive repairs to Fairfax Bolinas Road in West Marin. Also, DPW recently completed the $18 million Sir Francis Drake Boulevard rehabilitation project, titled Upgrade The Drake, improving public safety along 2.2 miles of the heavily used roadway for the first time in over 25 years.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

3 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

1 week ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.