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By CLARK MASON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Healdsburg is moving ahead with a traffic roundabout at a key intersection, but without the opposition the circular intersections have engendered in some towns.
Healdsburg city councilman Tom Chambers was on the committee that recommended a roundabout at the five-way intersection of Healdsburg Avenue, Mill Street and Vine Street. (CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / The Press Democrat)
The $2.4 million roundabout planned for a five-way intersection south of Healdsburg Plaza is seen as way to reduce congestion, make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists and help connect the downtown to an adjacent industrial area ripe for redevelopment.
It’s viewed as a more efficient way to handle traffic at the busy and problematic crossroads of Healdsburg Avenue, the railroad tracks, Mill and Vine Streets.
“There were questions initially, but people worked their way around it,” City Councilman Tom Chambers said Tuesday of the roundabout design.
The idea gained momentum in a series of workshops and public meetings held to establish guidelines for public infrastructure and private investment in the central Healdsburg Avenue and train depot area.
“There was a lot of enthusiasm about it,” said Jerry Eddinger, a planning commissioner and former mayor.
“It will allow you cross the street without taking your life in your hands,” he said. “The way it is now, there are so many damn arrows going in different directions.”
A roundabout will be less dangerous than the current five-way intersection, “which isn’t very intuitive; It’s not symmetrical,” said Ray Holley, a publicist and newspaper columnist who along with Eddinger and Chambers was on a citizens’ committee that helped establish a vision for the Central Healdsburg area.
Despite losing its redevelopment agency, Healdsburg City Council has approved a $160,000 EIR for the Central Healdsburg Avenue study, which calls for an ambitious makeover for the main entryway to town. (COURTESY OF COMMUNITY DESIGN + ARCHITECTURE)
“It’s common for people to get out in the middle of the intersection, get confused and go the wrong way. There are accidents out there on a regular basis,” Holley said.
Roundabouts in recent years have sparked strong opposition in some Sonoma County communities, including Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Sonoma Valley. Cotati voters last year permanently banned the traffic circles.
But in Healdsburg, the view is different. Supporters say that besides making it easier to navigate the intersection, a roundabout — along with landscaping, lighting and undergrounding of utilities — is a visual enhancement. City officials say it will help brand the Central Healdsburg area as a “destination location.”
“It is very much the gateway to Healdsburg, the way most people get to Healdsburg, both visitors and residents,” said Holley.
“Certainly one of the goals of the committee was to try to make a clear connection between the more developed downtown and this area we hope will develop and become an asset to the community,” he said.
City officials last month began advertising for firms to submit their qualifications if they want to bid on designing the roundabout.
Public Works Director Mike Kirn said the City Council likely will select a design firm or team in late May or June, and then it will take 10 to 12 months before a design is approved and work can begin.
“If we can hit the construction season in the spring of 2014, I think that would be a good schedule,” Kirn said.
To pay for the roundabout, the city is counting on proceeds from its defunct redevelopment agency’s bond sales in 2010, which were issued for a number of projects. However, approval from the state Department of Finance is required.
Although redevelopment agencies were dissolved in 2011 by the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown, the state is allowing some previously planned projects to go forward. Even if the state turns down Healdsburg’s request, city officials said money should be found to create the roundabout.
“We have to deal with that intersection,” said Assistant City Manager David Mickaelian.
The development plan for the area identifies other ways to pay for improvements such as transportation grants, fees paid by developers and special assessment districts in which property owners agree to tax themselves.
Through computer modeling, the roundabout was found to significantly improve traffic operations while accommodating the turn radius needed for large trucks, and buses through “truck aprons.”
The roundabout was projected to perform considerably better than the existing intersections, even with higher future traffic volumes and the addition of train service.
You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com.
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This is a first in Sonoma County. A roundabout proposed for a location actually large enough to properly scale it as well as a genuine need for it. Yes, I do infer that NONE of the existing roundabouts in Sonoma County meet either of those criteria.
However, Healdsburg first must get input from police, fire, garbage haulers, bus companies and any other entities that run large vehicles through this intersection. Do it right the first time, people.
I can see this working for the jumble of roads that come together at this intersection. But that was definitely not the case with Cotati’s roundabouts… 2 in close proximity at that.
Given the current size of the intersection, it’s quite feasible to create a wide enough thoroughfare for large trucks, emergency vehicles, and transit buses to traverse.
I wish Healdsburg the best with their new roundabout, and I’m sorry for those whom choose to oppose it, as it is an ideal option for a 5 way intersection in the middle of as busy a downtown as Healdsburg is.
When using it just imagine that your in the British Isles and turn to the left instead of the right.
That will liven things up considerably.
Even the fiercest proponents of roundabouts understand that functioning within them is a learned skill that takes time. With so much of the traffic going into downtown that’s tourist-based, that learning curve never flatten out and will always be a factor that will create nothing but problems for as long as the city relies on and promotes itself as a tourist “destination”. Really? What accidents? After many years of going through that intersection daily, I have yet to even see a single one. Sure, I can see how some people are confused by all the directional options now, but just wait until they’re going in circles and jamming up the flow with a roundabout…it won’t just be Mill, or Vine, or Healdsburg Ave, it will be everything, all at once.
Works for me as long as fire, police, electricity, sewer, water, roads and schools are all maintained at full levels. If there is extra money left over after all the necessities are taken care of this sounds like an idea that is worth trying. It’s a waste of taxpayer money unless there is a surplus of funds after taking care of all the essential city government functions. If there isn’t a surplus then this is a giant waste of money as the lights there now seem to work.
Yeah, like the citizens requested this crap. like it’s more important than having a road to their property they just spent thousands in taxes for.
This is grant money eligibility for One Bay Area.
More propaganda.