OurSausalito.com

The Insiders Guide to Sausalito

  • Restaurants
    • Sausalito Dining Main Menu
    • Full List of Sausalito Restaurants
    • Best Dinner Restaurants
    • Best Lunch Cafes, Deli’s & Diners
    • Best View Restaurants
    • Best Breakfast Places
    • Spots to Meet Singles
  • Ferries
    • Sausalito Ferry Guide (Main Ferry Menu)
    • Sausalito Ferry Information (Both Routes & Piers)
    • Sausalito Ferry Ticket Prices
    • Best Restaurants Near Sausalito Ferry
    • Ferry Building Guide San Francisco 2024
    • Full List of SF Bay Ferries
  • Fun
    • 1 Great Hour, Day or More in Sausalito
    • Guide to Fun Things to Do in Sausalito
    • Introduction to Sausalito
    • Muir Woods
    • Golden Gate Bridge
    • Sausalito Houseboats
    • Wine Tasting in Sausalito
    • Bay Model Visitor Center in Sausalito: Our 2025 Guide
    • Bay Area Discovery Museum Sausalito 2025
  • Hotels
    • Sausalito Hotels Guide
    • Best Sausalito Hotels
    • Sausalito Hotel Rates
    • Romantic Sausalito Hotels
  • Houseboats
    • Sausalito Houseboats Main Menu 2025
    • Sausalito Houseboats 2025: How to Visit
    • Taj Mahal Houseboat
    • Forbes Island Houseboat
  • Events
    • Sausalito Summer Jazz & Blues by the Bay
    • July 4 Sausalito Fireworks, Parade & Picnic
    • Sausalito Art Festival
    • Blue Angels & Fleet Week Events & Viewing
    • Winterfest & Christmas in Sausalito
    • Sausalito Lighted Boat Parade & Fireworks
    • Summer Sausalito Houseboats Tour
  • Transit
    • Sausalito Bus Tours
    • From San Francisco
    • From SF Airport (SFO)
    • From Oakland Airport
    • Sausalito Ferries Main Menu 2025
    • Uber, Lyft and Taxis in Sausalito
    • Driving in Sausalito
    • Mill Valley – Sausalito Multi-Use Path (Bay Trail)
  • Muir Woods
    • Muir Woods Information Main Menu 2025
    • Muir Woods Parking & Options When It’s Sold Out
    • Muir Woods Shuttle
    • Muir Woods Ticket Prices
    • How to Get to Muir Woods: Drive, Ride or Hike
    • GGNRA & Marin Headlands
  • Real Estate
    • Sausalito Houseboats for Sale 2025
  • About

Northbound Doyle Drive Transition to Golden Gate Bridge Has Changed

December 17, 2013 by Editors

Presidio Pkway Image Med

Fast Forward Summary:  Be careful as you drive onto the Golden Gate Bridge coming north from San Francisco. The lanes have been dramatically realigned, and alignments have differed on different days as work proceeds. Updated 10:30 PM Dec. 17, 2013 for still more lane changes.

We've all gotten used to the constant changes in the earthquake-inappropriate Doyle Drive at the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge as it's gradually being replaced with the new seismic-and-stylish Presidio Parkway.  

Some alterations have been so subtle that you'd barely notice them, while the first trip through the brand new tunnel felt like a theme park ride.

The latest changes are subtle when you're driving into San Francisco, but heading north into Marin be ready for big changes, which we've highlighted in the image above (copyrighted by Google), and you can click on that image to enlarge it.  The same area is shown in a live Google map that you can play with below.

The Old Pattern:

When you approach the Golden Gate Bridge leaving San Francisco during afternoon commute hours the "extra"  left hand lanes through the toll gates are open. The ideal strategy was to stay left to avoid traffic entering from 19th Ave. on the right and go through one of those lanes. 

At non-commute times the only open lanes to go onto the Bridge northbound were at the far-right, so coming from the left hand Doyle Drive lanes the optimal strategy was to merge right as soon as possible.  Or as soon as the 19th Ave. traffic would allow!

 

The New Pattern:

They're starting preparation for more tree removal to allow the roadway to be widened to the right (as you're facing north) in the area before the exit for the douth parking lot at the Bridge.

As a result the far right lane has been blocked off to traffic approaching from 19th Ave., and the 19th Ave. approach lanes have been shifted to the left.

The effect of this change is that 3-4 lanes of Doyle Drive traffic and 2 lanes of 19th Ave. traffic from San Francisco are compressed into even less space. The merge also happens with less room to maneuver, closer to the toll plaza. 

Even when the extra northbound toll lanes are open, traffic has to traverse a sweeping right curve just before the Bridge.  During non-commute times that curve is even sharper and 6 lanes of traffic have to compress into just two lanes to go onto the Golden Gate..  

Once you've driven through the new lane alignment once it will be easy to traverse (albeit with increased commute time traffic snarls) but we wanted to alert you to watch out for the changes. 

 

To use the new Google Maps: If you're on a touchscreen device, follow standard conventions.  On a desktop or laptop use the + and – buttons in the lower right to zoom in or out (or roll the wheel on your mouse if it has one), and you can also scroll the image by grabbing the map with the mouse cursor and pulling it in the desired direction.

 

Filed Under: Golden Gate Bridge News

SEARCH OURSAUSALITO.COM

Recent Posts

  • MLK Jr. Celebration to be held in Marin City Mon. January 20
  • The 2024 Sausalito Boat Show is Next Weekend, October 4-6
  • Southbound Spencer Ave. 101 Offramp in Sausalito Nighttime Closures Weekend of Sept. 27-29
  • Sausalito Sea Lion Statue Returns to Shoreline
  • Sausalito Center for the Arts June-July 2024 Events Schedule

SUBSCRIBE TO OURSAUSALITO.COM

Enter your Email


Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz

We will never share nor sell your email address!

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in