City's Streets, Crosswalks Get Overhaul

Watch out for construction crews causing traffic delays on a few of the city's main arteries over the next two months — massive construction projects are underway, aimed at improving pedestrian, motorist and bicycle safety at major intersections and streets citywide.

Expect traffic jams on Camino Colegio, all along Snyder Lane from Lawrence E. Jones Middle School to East Cotati Avenue and on Santa Dorotea Circle. Here's a breakdown of the projects:

Camino Colegio

The City Council on June 27 approved a proposal to stripe in class two bike lanes on Camino Colegio between Southwest Boulevard and East Cotati Avenue, about a month after the project was . 

About 20 area residents protested loss of parking on a residential street, cited concerns about speeding on Camino Colegio and about pedestrians not walking to the crosswalk to cross the street.

Following a community workshop, however, citizens voted in favor of eliminating parking on the west side of Camino Colegio, north of Cala Way and south of Casa and eliminating parking on the east side of Camino Colegio, north of Casa and south of Southwest Boulevard.

City engineers said striping in a five-foot bike lane, ultimately taking bicyclists out of the direct flow of traffic on Camino Colegio — which is called for in the city's Bicycle Master Plan — will make the street safer for cyclists and motorists.

In addition, the bike lane on Camino Colegio is the longest north-south route for cyclists in the city, next to Commerce Boulevard and Snyder Lane.

“Rohnert Park has done so much towards becoming a community in which residents can enjoy bicycling as a viable option for transportation and recreation," said Sandra Lupien, the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition's outreach director. "These Class II (dedicated) bike lanes on Camino Colegio — a key north-south connector — are an important next step in creating a unified bicycle network in Rohnert Park.”

Vice Mayor Jake Mackenzie, who helped draft the final Bicycle Master Plan approved in 2008, said the plan has had strong support since its beginning, in 2003.

But alhough Mackenzie applauded the work on Camino Colegio, he said significant bike improvements are still needed in parts of F Section, on Wilfred Avenue near Golf Course Drive and along Country Club Drive between RPX and Golf Course.

Eydie Tacata, who oversees the city's Bicycle Advisory Committee, said new bike lanes in the city historically have only been protested when they threaten car parking. 

"I'm pretty sure it's only happened once, on Country Club between Rohnert Park Expressway and Southwest Boulevard," Tacata said. "But now I see people using it."

Gary Helfrich, the executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, said the clash between bikes and cars is nothing new in Sonoma County.

"I think Rohnert Park is much mor bike friendly than it was, say five years ago," Helfrich said. "But there’s still a lot of work to be done. If the bicycle committee said yes get rid of parking, then politics get involved and people in the neighborhood will come out and say I need that parking space."

"Without this segment, the route is incomplete and cyclists may be forced on a zig-zag pattern that includes Snyder Lane, East Cotati Avenue and Southwest Boulevard, as well as a number of turning movements a busy intersections," city engineers said in a staff report. "Without this section the distance traveled by bike nearly doubles, cyclists are moved onto very busy roads and must take left hand turns at East Cotati and Snyder and Southwest and Snyder."

Engineers said today work will likely take two more months to be completed. Construction started Sept. 6. 

Part of the work on Camino Colegio and Santa Dorotea Circle, awarded to Ghilotti Bros., Inc. for about $600,000, also includes repaving the streets, replacing damaged curbs and sidewalks, installing pedestrian ramps in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and putting new signage on the streets. Arlen Drive and East Cotati Avenue will also be getting similar street and sidewalk improvements.

Crosswalk Safety Following Death of Calli Murray

Following the Dec. 1, 2010 death of 2-year-old Calli Murray, who was Kaitlyn Dunaway while walking through a crosswalk with her mother Ling at the intersection of Medical Center Drive and Snyder Lane, City Manager Gabe Gonzalez commissioned a citywide traffic study. 

The  found dozens of unsafe or inadequate crosswalks and intersections. Specifically, the study recommended adding pedestrian crossing signs to 75 crosswalks in the city, putting in some advance warning signs on 12 streets with high speed limit near pedestrian crossings and making more visible crosswalks that are frequented by a large number of pedestrians. 

City staff said in a report that the crossings needed to be "freshened up to improve visibility."

While some crosswalks were , there's still work to be done. Currently the city's working on:

• Adding a new sidewalk between Keiser Avenue and Circulo Grande.
• Installing a bulb-out near Lawrence E. Jones Middle school to provide more space for kids waiting to cross the street. 
• Installing a streetlight for the crossing at Parkway Drive.
• Installing a streetlight at Medical Center Drive (where the Murrays were hit) and expanding the landing area at one of the corners.
• Installing another bulb-out and pedestrian space at the corner of Rohnert Park Expressway and Snyder Lane.
• Installing a streetlight for the crossing at Rohnert Park Expressway and Jasmine Circle.
• Expanding the pedestrian landing at Southwest Boulevard and East Cotati Avenue.
• Installing a crosswalk at San Francisco Way.
• Adding crosswalk signage to Medical Center Drive.
• Restriping Snyder Lane where the road meets Copeland Creek to make the walkway more visible.
• Installing a crosswalk and pedestrian signage on Camino Corto.

While some of the work called for in the traffic study is currently underway, much of it is on hold for another 2-3 years because of funding, including the widening of Snyder Lane and constructing safer crosswalks along the road.

The cost of the work being done immediately, being done by Bayside Stripe and Seal, Inc. for $117,000, will be paid for by gas taxes and traffic fees. The city said no money is expected to come from the general fund for work being done now. 

Editor's note: Find the full traffic study attached as a PDF to the right and check out photos of the work underway.