Poll: Avoid McDowell at Washington

Petaluma’s traffic congestion is well known to residents, many of who try to find back roads and new ways to make it around clogged intersections. The Argus-Courier wanted to know which intersections are the most difficult to navigate due to traffic. In an unofficial online poll, most respondents said they try most to avoid East Washington at McDowell Boulevard, where cars can wait several rotations before making it through the light. A close second was Old Redwood Highway at the Highway 101 intersection, where months of construction have caused myriad traffic snarls. In the comments, most readers lamented the overall congestion of Petaluma’s streets as a whole, without identifying specific intersections. Here were some of the comments:

“All of them. Whose idea was it to put every single entry and exit to and from Petaluma under construction at one time?”

--

“All of them. Traffic in this town is horrific! Also Petaluma Boulevard South at D Street.”

--

“I try to avoid them all and use other streets. The city seems to have multiple constructions going on at the same time, which only exacerbates driving in Petaluma.”

--

“All of the above. It’s almost impossible to get around town now due to the gridlock created by our city council’s poor choices. Every penny they have spent on road ‘improvements’ has only made traffic worse. The overturned hay truck last Saturday is probably just a taste of things to come. Whoever designed the sharp right turns onto Highway 101 at East Washington and at Old Redwood Highway clearly flunked basic physics and has no understanding of the clearance needed for a large truck to turn. I frequently see large trucks moving into the left-hand lane in order to make the right turn at East Washington.”

--

“All of the above. Petaluma has to be one of the worst cities for drivers in California. Back-ups in every direction. This is a problem I don’t think will ever be fixed. Too many people and not enough roads.”

--

“All of the above are terrible.”

--

“Where Sonoma Mountain Parkway meets Washington is pretty horrible, especially when school’s in session.”