Highway 101 project moves along slowly

Highway 101 interchanges at the north and south ends of Petaluma are heavily impacted by construction, and it won’t be over soon.

Even when the interchanges are complete and open, areas of 101 will remain at two lanes in Petaluma, while most of the rest of the county sails along in three lanes.

“It’s unfortunate that when we got to the Petaluma widening that the money was gone,” said Petaluma City Council member Kathy Miller. Miller serves on the Sonoma County Transportation Authority as Petaluma’s representative. She was an SCTA alternate to former Council member Mike Harris. When Harris left the council, Miller stepped up.

Underway for a decade, the various projects to widen 101 in Sonoma County have a piecemeal funding history. Funds from state grants, local cities, and sales tax measures have been put together under SCTA’s leadership, and Miller is confident that two gaps in the Petaluma area will eventually be filled.

According to Allyn Amsk, SCTA and CalTrans made a strategic decision to work on the interchanges and the Petaluma River Bridge first. “These are the most challenging projects,” said Amsk. “We want to get them done and avoid a series of bottlenecks.”

The interchange at the north end of Petaluma, known as the Old Redwood Highway project, is an engineering and logistical challenge. “This is an ambitious project,” said Amsk. “We are trying to keep streets and services running during a major construction project.”

Amsk explained that the new highway interchange at the north end of Petaluma will include new on ramps and off ramps and a new wider overpass, all in virtually the same footprint as the old interchange. “And we have to keep it open the whole time.”

The “Old Red” project is in a continual state of change, and that frustrates motorists, Miller admitted. “It’s OK right now because people are used to it,” she said. “Every time it changes it throws people for a loop.”

And, it’s about to change again.

In early February the northbound and southbound off ramps will be reconfigured to allow workers access to sections that must be rebuilt.

The two exit lanes on each off ramp will be separated by height and motorists who end up in the wrong lane will be stuck there until they can get onto a surface street and turn around, adding to snarled traffic.

Amsk says the headaches will end this summer when the interchange is open.

At the south end of Petaluma, the northbound on ramp at Petaluma Boulevard South is still closed. The new section of Highway 101 through that area is much higher and a new ramp must be constructed to allow access. Amsk and Miller are unable to predict exactly when that will be complete, but both say it will be this spring.

The widening of Highway 116, the southern on ramp and the Petaluma River Bridge projects are literally overlapping, and many of the subcontractors work on all of them, so each is dependent on the schedule of the others. According to Amsk, the widening of 116 is nearly complete, but the bridge project has a long and complex path ahead of it.

“The project began with a new bridge in the center,” said Amsk, who explained that a plan to switch northbound and southbound traffic from bridge to bridge, from lane to lane, will go on until 2016 as new sections are completed and old bridge sections are demolished.

“In the next few months, demolition of the old northbound bridge will be followed by construction of a new northbound bridge,” Amsk said. “This summer, northbound traffic will be shifted to the new bridge and the lanes will connect with the new northbound bridge over Route 116.” Southbound traffic will then be shifted to the center bridge, to allow for demolition and rebuilding of the southbound (western) bridge.

Still another project begins soon, and will realign a section of 101 south of Petaluma, from the Marin/Sonoma county line to the Kastania Road interchange. The new section will open up new frontage roads and include a bicycle path along San Antonio Creek.

And, what of the unwidened sections of 101 through Petaluma? Miller says SCTA has just formed an ad hoc subcommittee, composed of herself, County Supervisor David Rabbitt, Rohnert Park Councilmember Jake Mackenzie, and SCTA Executive Director Suzanne Smith. “We’re going to brainstorm and try to figure out how to get the rest of the Highway 101 widening funded,” said Miller. That subcommittee meets for the first time on Feb. 2.