The new lanes are the second phase of a larger project to add auxiliary lanes from Millbrae Avenue to the southern San Mateo County line.

Auxiliary lanes provide two key benefits for San Mateo County drivers. Local drivers can use the freeway for short trips to neighboring communities without having to merge into fast-moving traffic and freeway traffic isn’t slowed down as drivers enter and exit the freeway. This alleviates traffic congestion on city streets and allows freeways to move more smoothly.

The San Mateo County Transportation Authority’s Measure A and the California Department of Transportation are joint sponsors of the project, with nearly equal contribution to the total cost of the $33.6 million project.

Over the last two weeks, the contractor, DeSilva Gates Construction, opened up the lanes as they were completed. Workers may still be seen along 101 as they complete punch list items.

“It’s thanks to the funds generated by Measure A that we have been able to move forward with this project,” said Mark Church, chair of the Transportation Authority, which disburses Measure A sales tax funds for transit, highway and other transportation projects. “In these tight fiscal times, many other communities have been forced to put traffic congestion relief on the back burner.”

The public is invited to celebrate the completion of the project at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 17 at the end of the bike path at the southern end of Skyway Road in San Carlos.

Dignitaries will take a test drive on the new bike path when they arrive at the speaker’s podium by pedi-cab. Church will speak at the event, along with Caltrans Chief Deputy District Director Andrew B. Fremier; Redwood City Mayor Jeff Ira and Tom Davids, a member of the San Carlos City Council.

The bike path is next to the auxiliary lane on the east side of 101 and is separated from the traffic by a barrier and a fence. The new one-mile segment in the Bay Trail means that cyclists will have a dedicated trail from Redwood City through Redwood Shores and north to the extensive network of bike paths in Foster City.

The contractor broke ground on the auxiliary lane project in March 2003. The innovative bid rewarded the contractor based on best cost and shortest time. It also included provisions to encourage on-time delivery by penalizing the contractor for going beyond its stated completion date. The approach accelerated the construction by at least one year.

The Transportation Authority administers San Mateo County’s half-cent sales tax program for transportation under Measure A, which voters approved in 1988, a local source of funds that has enabled the county to attract state and federal dollars. Over the life of the measure, the county will receive more than $1 billion in outside funding.