Poll: Few think road fix is coming

A new Petaluma City Council is settling in, with a heady list of issues to tackle. Of major concerns to residents is finding a fix for the city’s pot-holed roads and snarled traffic. However, very few have confidence that the new council will find a solution for these long-standing problems. Here were some of the comments:

“With Mayor David Glass in office, I am not confident that anything will be addressed - ever.”

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“They will continue to blow the tax dollars on over-paid, under-worked staff.”

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“They will provide excuses of not enough money and the taxpayers won’t pay. The reality is their revenues are going up and they need to spend the money on roads, not attorneys.”

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“They’ll waste the money on something else. Like making Petaluma Boulevard have no traffic lanes, only for bikes and pedestrians. That will make our traffic problem even better.”

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“These have been ongoing problems for years with no resolution. Nothing new here.”

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“The roads in Petaluma are the worst. I used to work in Rohnert Park and they know how to take care of their roads. I have had several tires and wheels damaged in Petaluma.”

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“The only way to solve the pothole and traffic problems in Petaluma is to take the Ranier cross-town connector off the table forever and then devote all critical thinking, and available funds, to addressing the sorry state of Petaluma’s roads.”

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“All the council majority has done is to increase traffic with their new shopping malls, from which all the sales tax money is going to pensions. They’ve done nothing to fix the roads or mitigate traffic.”

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“Are you kidding me? We have potholes everywhere and we recently changed Petaluma Boulevard from two lanes to one (during the Road Diet).”

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“I hope they can work together, but with David Glass back in the mayor’s seat, I’m doubtful.”

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“In the last 90 days I have paid for an alignment, four-wheel balance and replaced a bent wheel. On another family car, we replaced a blown out tire that occurred on the East Washington exit. Petaluma’s approach is a disgrace.”

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“Easy to do but only if they stop playing games with us to approve taxes.”

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“No, because the majority of the Petaluma City Council only wants to serve Basin Street and other developers. They won’t ever make them pay their fair share for the traffic mess and potholes they cause.”

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“East-side potholes will be the last to be fixed, so I’m not so confident.”

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“With our present mayor? Ha!”

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“They didn’t before, why would they now? It is just the same old council majority that does nothing for the citizens and just serves their own interest.”

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“Not unless the Rainier cross-town connector goes through.”

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“Nothing’s been done in the 10 years I’ve lived here. Why would I expect anything to change now?”

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“This is a totally stupid question. Obviously nothing will be done about roads or traffic because there is no money. Do you think they can build Rainier on hopes and dreams? It’s going to take millions of dollars the city doesn’t have. The taxpayers refuse to fund it, as shown with the defeat of Measure Q, We either need to agree as a city that we must pay for our roads to be fixed, or live with the potholes and fact that it can take 40 minutes to get from one side of town to the other, especially if it’s commute hours. This idea that the city council will be able to do anything is just stupid.”

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“I suspect that the city’s payroll and retirement obligation and other state and federal mandates will likely prevent us from solving our transportation infrastructure problems without bond funding or some supplemental tax. I own a modest home, purchased in 2012, and don’t feel like my significant tax dollars are being well spent. I’d be more likely to donate money to repair the road I live on than support a general or special tax for transportation improvements.”