Safety Improvements for Highway 116 Planned

The Cotati City Council approved the donation of city property in last Wednesday's council meeting that will allow Caltrans to make a safety improvement to the intersection at Highway 116 and Madrone Avenue. The intersection has been the site of two recent fatal collisions. With the intersection being a primary access point for Thomas Page Elementary School, there was much concern in the community about finding a way to make the area safer.

Currently that section of Highway 116 has a posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour and is a single lane traveling in either direction. The proposed changes will widen the road and add a center turn pocket for both east and west bound traffic turning into Madrone Avenue. Per a press release from the city of Cotati, Mayor Susan Harvey noted that, "This project is a high priority to Cotati, and will provide public benefit by improving safety for children and parents at Thomas Page School, as well as all motorists who pass through this intersection."

With the property donation by the City of Cotati construction is expected to begin next summer with a tentative date of June 2013.

Source: City of Cotati Media Release 6/25/12