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Jake Mackenzie
By JAKE MACKENZIE
Jake Mackenzie is chairman of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority and mayor of Rohnert Park.
Construction on Highway 101 has become something of a given these past few years. Since the first shovel turned in 2001 — 10 years ago now — progress has been made and phases are completed, but there remains some work to be done.
Since 2004, when Measure M was approved by 67 percent of Sonoma County voters, more than $720 million has been committed to the Highway 101 corridor. We have leveraged $140 million in local Measure M funds to access hundreds of millions in state and federal funding that never would have been available without our local tax.
As the construction from Windsor to the north end of Petaluma wraps up, the work in the Petaluma area and south will begin in earnest next year.
The Marin/Sonoma Narrows project, or “the Narrows,” that extends from Petaluma to Novato may seem at first glance to be moving ahead in an odd fashion. But there is a rationale — both from a traffic and safety perspective and a funding perspective.
As you may have seen, highway widening work has begun in Marin County which will extend the carpool lane and help move traffic through Novato. This will benefit drivers exiting the freeway in Novato and thus will reduce the number of cars lining up. This project used Marin County funds to leverage state funds and get under construction quickly.
In Sonoma County, two new projects will begin construction in the coming months — adding new onramps at the East Washington interchange and replacing the Petaluma Boulevard South Interchange and Petaluma River Bridge.
The East Washington interchange will be improved by building a new northbound entrance ramp that will enable cars coming from McDowell Boulevard to turn directly onto Highway 101. In addition, an improved southbound entrance ramp will be able to handle more cars.
The Petaluma Boulevard South interchange and Petaluma River Bridge project will create a new gateway into Petaluma while building frontage roads that connect to the interchange, allowing drivers to safely enter and exit the highway. It will also replace the two bridges that cross the Petaluma River with one wider bridge that will have a safer northbound approach and will accommodate a carpool lane in each direction.
In Marin County, construction at the Redwood Landfill will start next year to expand that interchange and build additional frontage roads, similar to what will take place at Petaluma Boulevard South.
At the county line, construction is scheduled for 2014 to replace the San Antonio Creek Bridge and improve that section of highway for better sight distance, flood prevention and carpool lanes.
As part of the new frontage road system, there will be a continuous bicycle lane, and where the roads end, a Class I bike path will be provided to enable cyclists to travel the entire distance between Petaluma and Novato.
As a result of these projects, the heavy lifting will be done — frontage roads, new bridges, curve corrections and interchanges. And all of this is great news, both in terms of more jobs and more improvements that will move people and goods.
However, we are still left with a gap. In order to complete the carpool lanes in Petaluma and across the county line, we need to secure approximately $250 million. This will not be easy given the lack of a federal transportation bill, the elimination of earmarks and the state of the California’s finances.
Less than 10 years ago, Measure M committed 40 percent of a 20-year, quarter-percent sales tax to Highway 101 improvements. We have seen sales tax revenues drop dramatically but have been able to take advantage of a positive bond market and low construction bids to keep our promise to voters. We’ve maximized local revenue by matching it with other funds by a ratio of more than five to one.
Unfortunately, there is no more local funding left to finish the Highway 101 work. Can we rely solely on the state and federal government, or should we be planning ahead to address this issue locally?
The Sonoma County Transportation Authority is grappling with this issue and is committed to working with all of our stakeholders and partners to finish the Highway 101 widening as soon as possible.
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The too-little-too-late highway 101 improvements? I, like many, did not wait around to see if adding a commute-lane corridor and dead-end frontage roads would resolve anything for working class Sonoma County commuters. I got tired of suffering the shortfalls of local planning and leadership, and moved south, where there are real jobs (not just government or wine industry jobs). No more 2-hour one-way commute for me.
So for the sentimental suckers who stick it out… these efforts will solve nothing meaningful. You’ll eventually find that the bicycle traffic on the frontage road is passing you, as you sit in bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic on 101.
So this planning effort is great news for the rickshaw and refreshment cart lobby. Not much so for the working class.
Ever wonder why all progress seems to stop at Petaluma?
A better idea for the 101:
http://reason.org/news/show/how-to-make-bay-area-bus-trans
Before any construction can begin, we must first pay a hundred million to some liberal eccoterrorist establishment. Once this occurs then we’ll to spend another 20 million or so to another liberal bias group to remove taxpayer trees from our right-of-way.
People wonder why California is broke, get a clue. You idiots vote liberals in office and then whine and complain about the cost here, vote these idiots out and put people in that don’t succumb to the crap they spew.
The carpool lanes have always puzzled me.
We have hybrids which get more miles per gallon driving slowly (under 30 MPH) doing 65 in the car pool lanes, while the gas guzzlers which get double the mileage at 65 than “stop and go” in the slow lanes.
If we really want to save the planet, and conserve fuel, we may just have this scenario backwards.
That’s not all Skippy! I live in Cotati next to 101. They built a very expensive, very pretty “soundwall” that didn’t change the volume of the freeway even a tiny bit. I had been waiting for years for the wall to finally go up. What a joke!
“where the roads end, a Class I bike path will be provided to enable cyclists to travel the entire distance between Petaluma and Novato.”
Well I don’t get it. I thought SMART was building a bike path between Petaluma and Novato. Why do we need two?
What great news!
Hwy 101 will soon have an unused lane all the way to Novato!
It is time to end the elitist charade of HOV lanes.
Easliy 99% of vehicles on 101 cannot drive on the brand new lanes, by law.
The 1% that use it laugh(at 65 mph)at all the suckers who are unable to carpool.
Hundreds of million$ for an empty lane and an empty excuse for continuing to discriminate against the 99%.
I urge all drivers to Occupy The Highway.
The CHP, rather than keep the roads safe for everyone, are forced to keep the 1% lane open for Woolsey and MacKenzie in their limos and 10mpg SUV’s.
They can’t ticket us all, so use the lane at your leisure.
In Japan centuries ago, they built a fantastic system of roads that went everywhere.
In order to keep them from wearing out, the peasants were not allowed to place wheeled carts on them, saving the roads for the Emperor and his court.
The serfs were forced to carry their loads on their backs. Sound familiar?
Resist!
Refuse!
Revolt!
Occupy 101!
“Unfortunately, there is no more local funding left to finish the Highway 101 work. Can we rely solely on the state and federal government, or should we be planning ahead to address this issue locally?”
Translation: I’m going to be pushing for a tax increase.
When you look up oppression in the dictionary,
his picture should come up.
No Mackenzie there is not enough money to improve 101 or fix the potholes in our very poor roads, thanks to you.
You and your little fellow small minded politicians on the local and regional transportation boards have transferred the tax money to your little train project euphemistically called SMART.
The cure for your disastrous redirection of our tax funds is to end SMART funding with a tax repeal.
Make Sonoma and Marin a SMART free zone.