There is no evidence that two way streets will make things safer or easier for pedestrians or cyclists. It is important that the town improve safety, Sebastopol is one of the most dangerous towns it's size in the entire state for cyclists and pedestrians. The one way street configuration is just fine what is needed is safe and separate bicycle lanes. What is also needed is aggressive enforcement of traffic laws at all intersections which should include automatic speed cams and red light cams since the police are reluctant to do this enforcement. The consultants have failed to include the impacts of two way traffic lights, traffic turning both left and right where not only one way is permitted.
There actually is evidence that two way traffic and narrower streets slow cars down and that will improve safety. More lanes make people perceive a street as a highway, even as it goes through town. What we have now is a drag strip on South Main as cars jockey for position before it narrows to one lane.
I walk to and from work downtown daily and see cars going the wrong way on Main and Petaluma often (sometimes once a week). Our current system is confusing and forces people to backtrack and go the long way around due to the one-way streets not allowing them to go directly where they want. All that backtracking clogs up our intersections. . That will end with two way streets.
The goal of this study is to improve the quality of Main Street and downtown, not improve traffic flow. The one way system was introduced to maximize the flow of cars through town. By doing that, we lost a lot of the character of our small town, trading people space for three lanes or cars on Main Street and turning South Main into a drag strip. This is our chance to reclaim downtown for people with wider sidewalks, crosswalks, bulbous and more room for bikes and street trees. The question we should be asking is; which option makes downtown the best for people, not which option benefits people driving through town the most. If a wonderful downtown means that people driving through Sebastopol are delayed a few minutes, I think that’s a fair trade. And for reference, the difference in travel time through town during rush hour and mid-day is only about 5 minutes.
I am in favor of all two-way streets but am disappointed to see that the consultant didn’t include that as an option. Two-way streets provide so many more route options than we currently have and having more options will improve flow. The consultant’s traffic studies from earlier work concluded that a two-way street grid would actually IMPROVE flow, not reduce it. Win-Win!
As Jane Jacobs said, “Protect the village!” We need to go back to two way on main. The present system severely diminishes the feel of a village. It turns the main street of town into a clogged freeway.
I have lived in Sebastopol (city) since 1999 and until several years ago I walked everywhere (bank, drug store, library, Ives Park, etc).
Comments
Several "starters": 1) Next to pedestrian safety (and decreasing vehicle exhaust emissions), the primary concern when evaluating this realignment proposal should be the financial health of Sebastopol City government. And Sebastopol's financial health will be improved principally through increased sales and occupancy tax receipts. 2) I believe the general public "concern" with Sebastopol traffic flow is, deep down, really a concern about the quality and "sprightliness" of Sebastopol retail stores. People want Sebastopol to be a little more like Healdsburg instead of the tattoo parlors, nail salons, pizza parlors, and vacancies we seem to be specializing in.
With these "starters" in mind 1) I believe the City should do as little as possible to change the existing traffic flow. I think the worst thing that could be done would be to turn Main St. into two way. Can you imagine the delays that would be caused by cars waiting on Main St (heading south) to turn left (east) onto Sebastopol Ave. (route 12 toward Santa Rosa) if we had 2 instead of three lanes going south on Main? 2) I believe if the City or State want to improve pedestrian crossings (I think the new pedestrian crossing light to be installed on S. Main at Burnett is great), have at it. But a consideration should be maintenance costs (who is going to pay for watering and weeding the "planters"?) 3) I am all for more bicycle travel in the City. But I have seen little, if any, increase in bicycle use with the new bicycle lanes - particularly the lane on Petaluma Ave. (Under the rubric of "improving traffic flow" the City or State should delete the bicycle lanes on Petaluma Ave. and add another lane for cars - the reasons for which I am sure you have heard many, many times)."
How many of those who favor a return to two way streets actually lived or worked or drove around Sebastopol in the days before the one-way couplet was implemented? It was a mess then, and the traffic volumes were much less than now. And yes, the bypass was much discussed. Caltrans’ scheme had it going along Llano Road, then straight across SR12. Right up the Laguna.
There is a lot of talk about "small town feel". Sounds great but does anybody have the slightest idea what that means? Does anybody have an example of a town the size of Sebastopol with this characteristic. Sebstopol grew out of actually being a small town years ago. Graton and Forestiville are small towns, do they have small town feel? How about Freestone that must have small town feel? Of course there is almost nothing there.
One thing that would be enormously beneficial to Sebastopol is to stop pretending the hotel will ever be built where chain link park is today and put in a real town square. That hotel will never be built without major tax abatements. Keep an eye out for that development. An error will happen a commitment made in a closed door meeting followed by a threat of a lawsuit and here is the hotel paying little taxes
Somehow mighty Graton and Forestville have town squares coming up as a result of community efforts. Sebastopol on the other hand relies on developers, expensive consultants, the business community and wealthy investors and has a little tiny square that is mostly parking lot.
Perhaps this has already been discussed elsewhere, but has anyone spoken with the county or state tranportation planners regarding planned or possible bypass routing for 12 and 116? If there are plans to improve Llano and/or Occidental to carry more traffic around downtown than they already do it would affect these plans.
Thanks for the history. Also your maps are actually readable, the website with the survey is not. If one way didn’t work years ago, why with more cars today do they expect it to work now.
Option two actually has Petaluma ave going from two lanes to one lane crossing the intersection in front of Mimi’s. Can you imagine the backup as cars try to merge crossing that intersection?
All one way option is not just one way…there will be one lane going north and one lane going south. Two lanes each direction now are pretty full now…what are they thinking. Anyone hopeful that the planning commission will say there needs to be a traffic study before this comes to city council?
The blue shaded areas represent parking. If you compare the existing condition with each option, yo can see how it chances. It would have been nice if they quantified the changes.
There is no evidence that two way streets will make things safer or easier for pedestrians or cyclists. It is important that the town improve safety, Sebastopol is one of the most dangerous towns it's size in the entire state for cyclists and pedestrians. The one way street configuration is just fine what is needed is safe and separate bicycle lanes. What is also needed is aggressive enforcement of traffic laws at all intersections which should include automatic speed cams and red light cams since the police are reluctant to do this enforcement. The consultants have failed to include the impacts of two way traffic lights, traffic turning both left and right where not only one way is permitted.
There actually is evidence that two way traffic and narrower streets slow cars down and that will improve safety. More lanes make people perceive a street as a highway, even as it goes through town. What we have now is a drag strip on South Main as cars jockey for position before it narrows to one lane.
I walk to and from work downtown daily and see cars going the wrong way on Main and Petaluma often (sometimes once a week). Our current system is confusing and forces people to backtrack and go the long way around due to the one-way streets not allowing them to go directly where they want. All that backtracking clogs up our intersections. . That will end with two way streets.
The goal of this study is to improve the quality of Main Street and downtown, not improve traffic flow. The one way system was introduced to maximize the flow of cars through town. By doing that, we lost a lot of the character of our small town, trading people space for three lanes or cars on Main Street and turning South Main into a drag strip. This is our chance to reclaim downtown for people with wider sidewalks, crosswalks, bulbous and more room for bikes and street trees. The question we should be asking is; which option makes downtown the best for people, not which option benefits people driving through town the most. If a wonderful downtown means that people driving through Sebastopol are delayed a few minutes, I think that’s a fair trade. And for reference, the difference in travel time through town during rush hour and mid-day is only about 5 minutes.
I am in favor of all two-way streets but am disappointed to see that the consultant didn’t include that as an option. Two-way streets provide so many more route options than we currently have and having more options will improve flow. The consultant’s traffic studies from earlier work concluded that a two-way street grid would actually IMPROVE flow, not reduce it. Win-Win!
As Jane Jacobs said, “Protect the village!” We need to go back to two way on main. The present system severely diminishes the feel of a village. It turns the main street of town into a clogged freeway.
My response to the City:
"Background
I have lived in Sebastopol (city) since 1999 and until several years ago I walked everywhere (bank, drug store, library, Ives Park, etc).
Comments
Several "starters": 1) Next to pedestrian safety (and decreasing vehicle exhaust emissions), the primary concern when evaluating this realignment proposal should be the financial health of Sebastopol City government. And Sebastopol's financial health will be improved principally through increased sales and occupancy tax receipts. 2) I believe the general public "concern" with Sebastopol traffic flow is, deep down, really a concern about the quality and "sprightliness" of Sebastopol retail stores. People want Sebastopol to be a little more like Healdsburg instead of the tattoo parlors, nail salons, pizza parlors, and vacancies we seem to be specializing in.
With these "starters" in mind 1) I believe the City should do as little as possible to change the existing traffic flow. I think the worst thing that could be done would be to turn Main St. into two way. Can you imagine the delays that would be caused by cars waiting on Main St (heading south) to turn left (east) onto Sebastopol Ave. (route 12 toward Santa Rosa) if we had 2 instead of three lanes going south on Main? 2) I believe if the City or State want to improve pedestrian crossings (I think the new pedestrian crossing light to be installed on S. Main at Burnett is great), have at it. But a consideration should be maintenance costs (who is going to pay for watering and weeding the "planters"?) 3) I am all for more bicycle travel in the City. But I have seen little, if any, increase in bicycle use with the new bicycle lanes - particularly the lane on Petaluma Ave. (Under the rubric of "improving traffic flow" the City or State should delete the bicycle lanes on Petaluma Ave. and add another lane for cars - the reasons for which I am sure you have heard many, many times)."
How many of those who favor a return to two way streets actually lived or worked or drove around Sebastopol in the days before the one-way couplet was implemented? It was a mess then, and the traffic volumes were much less than now. And yes, the bypass was much discussed. Caltrans’ scheme had it going along Llano Road, then straight across SR12. Right up the Laguna.
There is a lot of talk about "small town feel". Sounds great but does anybody have the slightest idea what that means? Does anybody have an example of a town the size of Sebastopol with this characteristic. Sebstopol grew out of actually being a small town years ago. Graton and Forestiville are small towns, do they have small town feel? How about Freestone that must have small town feel? Of course there is almost nothing there.
One thing that would be enormously beneficial to Sebastopol is to stop pretending the hotel will ever be built where chain link park is today and put in a real town square. That hotel will never be built without major tax abatements. Keep an eye out for that development. An error will happen a commitment made in a closed door meeting followed by a threat of a lawsuit and here is the hotel paying little taxes
Somehow mighty Graton and Forestville have town squares coming up as a result of community efforts. Sebastopol on the other hand relies on developers, expensive consultants, the business community and wealthy investors and has a little tiny square that is mostly parking lot.
Perhaps this has already been discussed elsewhere, but has anyone spoken with the county or state tranportation planners regarding planned or possible bypass routing for 12 and 116? If there are plans to improve Llano and/or Occidental to carry more traffic around downtown than they already do it would affect these plans.
Bypasses have been talked about for all of the thirty years that I've lived here. No one's come up with a really workable plan that I've seen.
Thanks for the history. Also your maps are actually readable, the website with the survey is not. If one way didn’t work years ago, why with more cars today do they expect it to work now.
Option two actually has Petaluma ave going from two lanes to one lane crossing the intersection in front of Mimi’s. Can you imagine the backup as cars try to merge crossing that intersection?
All one way option is not just one way…there will be one lane going north and one lane going south. Two lanes each direction now are pretty full now…what are they thinking. Anyone hopeful that the planning commission will say there needs to be a traffic study before this comes to city council?
Taos would benefit from implementing Sebastopol's example in this regard, not that I expect the town council and mayor to learn from it.
A round- about at the Mimi’s intersection. Continuous flow instead of alternating intermittent,
Planning done for least immediate cost vs long term vision it seems
Am I missing something? None of the options show how they would impact parking.
The blue shaded areas represent parking. If you compare the existing condition with each option, yo can see how it chances. It would have been nice if they quantified the changes.