County to install traffic light at Adobe Road and East Washington Street

Sonoma County is installing a traffic light at the intersection of Adobe Road and East Washington Street 11 years after an accident at the spot killed four Petaluma teenagers and spurred calls for improved safety at the busy junction.

The Board of Supervisors last month approved the $1.69 million project, that will also widen Adobe Road to include eastbound left and right turn lanes, lengthen the existing westbound left turn lane and create bike lanes. The three-way stop is currently regulated by stop signs with flashing red lights.

Those features were added soon after the Dec. 13, 2005 crash that killed Adrianna DeLaTorre, 18, Christina Ramirez, 19, Caj’o Phelan, 17, and Greg Kubeck. DeLaTorre’s brother, Michael, 17 at the time, and foster sister, Michaela Jones, 16, were also in the Ford Taurus, but survived the impact with a southbound truck.

Supervisor David Rabbitt said that the wait for a traffic signal at the intersection has been agonizing for some in the community.

“Really nothing strikes at the heart of a community harder than a tragedy,” he said at the board meeting. “This is more than 10 years in the making, which is frustrating to say the least.”

Adobe Road, an important commute route, is used by 12,000 vehicles per day. East Washington Street, a major gateway into Petaluma, sees 6,000 vehicles per day, according to the county. The junction, near Old Adobe Elementary School, sometimes experiences significant backups, especially before and after school.

There have been no fatalities at the intersection since the 2005 accident, according to CHP records, but in the past decade there have been 37 collisions, 17 involving injuries.

The county awarded the contract for the signal to Berkeley-based O.C. Jones & Sons, Inc. Construction at the site is expected to begin in June.

Rabbitt said the work will improve safety at the intersection, which wasn’t originally designed for heavy traffic.

“So many roads in the county were built for a fraction of the traffic that we currently have,” he said. “If you live on a side street and you’re trying to get out into traffic, or god forbid you’re trying to make a left turn, if becomes virtually impossible.”

Petaluma Mayor David Glass said that the accident that killed the Casa Grande High School and San Antonio High School students caused many in the community to demand improvements at the intersection. He said the addition of the stop sign, just a month after the accident, wasn’t enough.

“It was literally too little, too late,” he said. “The solution didn’t happen. It happened with a band-aid instead. I’m glad to see it’s getting fixed now. It needed it.”

DeLaTorre’s parents, Mike and Kim Young of Petaluma, agreed it was a long-overdue project.

“It takes something to happen for them to do something about it,” Mike Young said.

(Press Democrat Staff Writer Christi Warren contributed to this report. Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)