In order to widen Highway 101 between Petaluma and Marin County, local transportation officials must find $250 million. It will be no easy task, says Jake Mackenzie, chairman of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority. 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?

As many as 900 trees will be cut down to accommodate the Highway 101 widening project through Petaluma. The city’s tree committee wants the City Council to urge Caltrans to replace every tree or fund a tree bank to replenish the lost trees.

The California Transportation Commission on Thursday approved $45 million for rebuilding the Highway 101 bridges over the Petaluma River, a key part of the freeway widening work through Sonoma and Marin counties.

Long-delayed plans to reconnect Sixth Street in Santa Rosa under Highway 101 may get a jump-start this summer, thanks to cost savings from widening work along the highway. The California Transportation Commission last week approved nearly $700,000 for the project, which is expected to cost about $1.5 million.

A redesign of the Petaluma Boulevard South interchange at Highway 101 has some Petalumans asking for a U-turn from Caltrans and the county transportation authority. The Petaluma City Council agrees the design could be improved, but doesn’t want to jeopardize the project.

A highly visible electronic advertising sign on Highway 101 will get more so, the result of Rohnert Park City Council’s approval Tuesday of a private company’s bid to lease it, raze it and build a bigger one. Petaluma-based N2 Holdings, Inc., plans to sell advertising to nationwide clients as part of a digital advertising campaign.

The low bid for the latest Highway 101 widening project is more than a third less than engineers’ estimates, a recession-era trend that will save Sonoma County $56 million in anticipated costs for work from Windsor to Petaluma. The bidding environment is being closely watched by the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District, which is about to seek bids on $314 million of work for an commute line from Santa Rosa to San Rafael.

State officials Thursday released $22.8 million to extend the widening of Highway 101 in Sonoma County south from Pepper Road to Old Redwood Highway on the northern edge of Petaluma, a one-mile project that had been delayed by California’s budget uncertainties.

As typos go, forgetting the silent “e” on the end of Steele Lane isn’t the worst you can do. Most PD reporters would have to admit to worse. Still, it’s probably not something you want to flaunt in front of thousands of drivers every day. A new exit sign installed by Caltrans on Highway 101 suggests a road named for an iron alloy rather than one honoring a historic Santa Rosa family.

As he prepares to leave the Board of Supervisors, Mike Kerns looks back on the last 12 years representing southern Sonoma County on the Board of Supervisors. What do you think was his biggest accomplishment – and what disappointed you most about his stewardship in office?