Transportation – Enviro Updates

SuzanneJuly 26, 2024July 30, 2024Land Use, TransportationCloverdale, new community

Company affiliated with Edge Esmeralda ‘pop-up village’ enters into purchase agreement for huge site in Cloverdale

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A massive, vacant swath of land in southeast Cloverdale that once was to be transformed into a $200 million resort suddenly is slated for potential development by a surprise buyer: a company linked to Edge Esmeralda, the “pop-up village” that attracted visitors from around the world to Healdsburg in June.

Esmeralda Land Company, run by Devon Zuegel, a principal behind Edge Esmeralda, has entered into a purchase agreement for the 267-acre site, which has sat quietly on the real estate market for seven years.

Pending approval from Cloverdale city leaders and final signoff from Esmeralda investors, Zuegel told The Press Democrat on Friday she plans to transform the open space into a full-time neighborhood that includes a hotel.

The ethos of the community will mirror that of the month-long event Zuegel helped lead in Healdsburg in June, where people took part in a variety of lectures and day trips, harmonizing with nature and prioritizing health and wellness.

SuzanneJuly 12, 2024July 30, 2024Transportationroundabouts, traffic

Cotati voters to have say on roundabouts — again

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Round and round they go: Cotati voters will have their say on roundabouts after a citizens’ initiative to repeal a citywide ban on the traffic configuration has gathered enough signatures to be placed on the November ballot.

A ban against the love-it-or-hate-it road junction has been in place since voters passed a measure in 2012 prohibiting the construction of roundabouts and traffic circles within city limits.

That original ban was also a voter-driven initiative after the council planned to install two roundabouts on Old Redwood Highway as part of a $3.5 million redesign of its downtown. The plan was part of a long-planned revitalization intended to maintain Cotati’s small-town feel, spur economic activity and make the highway safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

At the time, opponents said the traffic circles would jam traffic, cause accidents and stifle business along the half-mile corridor. Ultimately, they were never constructed.

Eris Weaver, one of three proponents for the repeal, said the original arguments against roundabouts were false.

“I don’t know why people lose their mind about roundabouts. I think it’s fear of the unknown, maybe,” Weaver, who serves as the executive director for the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, said.

SuzanneMay 29, 2024June 2, 2024Climate Change & Energy, TransportationActive Transportation Program, bicycle infrastructure, bicycle safety, pedestrian safety

Op-Ed: CalBike commends California legislature for rejecting Active Transportation Program (ATP) cuts

Laura McCamy, CALBIKES

The legislature’s budget proposal, released today, rescinds the deep cuts to the Active Transportation Program (ATP) proposed in the Governor’s Budget and plans to backfill those cuts with state highway funding. CalBike thanks the legislature for recognizing the value of the ATP and maintaining funding commitments to critical walking and bicycling projects.

CalBike policy director Jared Sanchez: “I’m glad the legislature recognized the value of the Active Transportation Program. The legislature heard from its constituents and saved a popular program many local communities rely on to fund infrastructure projects.”

CalBike consultant Jeanie Ward-Waller: “The ATP is critical to meeting California’s climate goals and addressing the crisis of rising pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities on our roadways, especially in disadvantaged communities across the state. We commend the Legislature for their strong support of shifting funding from car-centric infrastructure to improve walking and biking.”

SuzanneFebruary 14, 2024February 14, 2024TransportationHighway 37, salt marsh, San Pablo Bay, tidal ecosystem

New Highway 37 planning structure elevates focus on environment, San Pablo Baylands

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The people who are planning the long-needed improvements on heavily congested Highway 37 are faced with more than just the amount of time commuters spend in gridlock each day en route to and from jobs in Marin and Sonoma counties.

There also are climate and environmental concerns along the sensitive shoreline of San Pablo Bay — the focus of tidelands restoration investments topping $600 million already. The diminished marshes and wetlands that once lined the greater San Francisco Bay are productive habitats that foster wildlife, filter water, sequester carbon and can help buffer the land from sea level rise.

But the varying needs don’t always line up easily. What solves one problem could exacerbate another.

And there is distrust among some who believe a short-term plan to widen the eastern stretch of 37 between Sears Point and Mare Island on slightly raised berms does more harm than good, despite the cost and time involved in a long-term plan to raise the whole highway.

They include Congressman Jared Huffman, who has, as he attests, “been lobbying nonstop” to change the approach to the highway redesign, moving directly to a full causeway instead of a freeway widening project “straight out of the 1980s.”

But in an effort to assure environmental stakeholders that their interests are on equal footing as work on the 21-mile highway corridor goes forward, the multicounty State Route 37 Partnership, currently dominated by transportation agencies, will now include key leaders from “environmentally oriented” state groups.

And it will have a new name: The Baylands Restoration and Transportation Expanded Partnership.

SuzanneMay 1, 2023May 1, 2023Transportationequity, Highway 37, sea level rise, wetlands

Op-Ed: A right way and a wrong way to fix Highway 37

Victoria Brandon, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Everyone agrees that Highway 37 needs fixing.

For nearly a decade, the environmental community has debated plans to restructure Highway 37 between Vallejo and Marin County. Usually, environmental engagement on highway projects focuses on ways to reduce negative impacts, but in this case there is an opportunity for a genuinely positive outcome.

Replacement of the current road with a built-for-resilience elevated causeway would not only protect the highway from flooding, it would reconnect the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge and other tidal wetlands to San Francisco Bay waters.

Wetlands sequester carbon dioxide, encourage biodiversity by increasing ecologically vital habitat and play a crucial role in meeting the state’s 30 by 30 goals — preserving 30% of land and coastal waters by 2030.

Elevating the highway would also increase the climate resilience of North Bay communities by buffering high-tide events and reducing nearby flooding and by allowing more sediment to flow into San Pablo Bay, which will help protect marshes and communities against sea level rise.

Everyone agrees that Highway 37 needs fixing. Not only does heavy commute traffic and the absence of a transit alternative create daily gridlock, portions of the road become impassable when bay waters are high, and climate change is only going to make that situation worse.

Sierra Club Redwood Chapter activists were therefore disappointed when instead of moving forward with an elevated causeway that its own studies have identified as the preferred alternative, Caltrans proposed an interim fix — an outdated conventional highway-widening project that will reduce traffic congestion and flood risk at best temporarily.

SuzanneOctober 23, 2022October 30, 2022Climate Change & Energy, Transportationbike lanes, safe streets

Op-Ed: Santa Rosa needs protected bike lanes

Adrian Covert & Alexa Forrester, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

What if we told you there was a cheap and easy way to reduce traffic in Santa Rosa by as much as 25%?

It’s called Class IV protected bike lanes.

Every day, about a quarter of all car trips in Santa Rosa are less than 2 miles. That’s about a 10-minute bike ride for the average adult, comparable to the amount of time it would take to drive that same distance and park. For these small trips, biking is a time-competitive and virtually free alternative to cars that also strengthens physical fitness and generally creates good community vibes (join the Taco Tuesday Ride from Humboldt Park to Mitote Food Park if you don’t believe us). Bikes are also quiet, clean and require little public space.

Yet just 1.6% of all trips in Santa Rosa are made by bike. Bikes are used about six times less often in Santa Rosa than in San Luis Obispo, and 16 times less often than in Davis. Despite its comparatively miserable weather, Amsterdam residents are 24 times more likely to bike to their destination than Santa Rosa residents.

This is an infrastructure problem. Santa Rosa’s bike lanes are almost entirely made up of Class II bikeways — painted lines along the shoulder of a road. Riding mere feet away from increasingly distracted drivers behind the wheels of increasingly large vehicles is neither safe nor pleasant. Since 2012, nearly 500 cyclists have been injured by cars in Santa Rosa, including two who were killed. Small wonder cycling in the city is limited to the most fearless riders.

Santa Rosa could have as many as 24,000 new homes by 2050. To avoid the city becoming choked with car traffic, we must provide safe biking and scooting infrastructure for those who want that option, especially for short trips.

SuzanneSeptember 29, 2022October 5, 2022Climate Change & Energy, Transportationelectric vehicles, ghg emissions, ghg reduction, public transit

Santa Rosa acquires new electric transit buses, readying first two for service in late 2022

Alana Minkler & Colin Atagi, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Two electric buses arrived in Santa Rosa on Wednesday morning and two more are on the way as the city is poised to put them into service later this year — the start of a bigger shift to eliminate carbon emissions tied to the CityBus fleet.

The switch to electrical buses is part of the city’s initiative to make public transportation fully zero-emission by 2030 and drastically lower carbon emissions in the transportation sector, which accounts for 60% of climate warming gases in the county.

The city’s all-electric buses, which cost $1.2 million each, join three currently in the county fleet, and are part of the broader plan by transit and fleet managers eyeing a transition away from fossil fuel vehicles over the coming years.

Sonoma County Transit introduced its first electric bus in 2018 and plans to add three more by the end of this year, with up to 19 in service by mid-2024, said Sonoma County Transit Systems Manager Bryan Albee said.

SuzanneSeptember 18, 2022September 21, 2022Climate Change & Energy, Habitats, Transportation, Wildlifebike lanes, bike/pedestrian bridge, flooding, habitat restoration, Highway 37, marsh migration, San Pablo Bay, sea level rise, wetlands

Hwy. 37 could be under water by 2050. Here’s how Caltrans plans to keep traffic flowing

Colin Atagi, NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL

The favored plan also proposes the route have a 60 mph speed limit, as well as two lanes in each direction with bicycle and pedestrian paths. The plan is in its early stages and officials haven’t identified a cost or funding source.

Caltrans, in order to keep traffic flowing decades from now, intends to build an elevated road along Highway 37 to combat rising water levels, which are expected to eventually inundate the North Bay arterial.

The proposed project essentially stretches across the existing route along San Pablo Bay and through Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties.

It preserves travel patterns, allows landward marsh migration and is resilient to sea level rises, officials said in explaining its benefits.

SuzanneAugust 25, 2022August 26, 2022Climate Change & Energy, Transportationelectric vehicles, fossil fuel infrastructure, gas station ban

Santa Rosa, largest US city to ban new gas stations

Paulina Pineda, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Santa Rosa became the largest city in the nation to ban new gas stations on Tuesday, joining other cities in Sonoma County that have led a coordinated effort to combat climate impacts of fossil fuel.

In the latest volley of a locally grown movement that supporters hope will catch on across the nation, the City Council voted 6-0 to ban construction of gas stations and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure at existing gas stations within city limits.

The new rules will not close gas stations though it will put some limits on current operators.

Santa Rosa has 44 operating gas stations and there are two proposed stations under review at Rincon Road and North Wright Road. Gas stations that submit completed applications before the ban goes into effect in October will be considered by staff.

With Tuesday’s vote, more than half of Sonoma County residents will live in a jurisdiction that has banned gas stations. Supporters point to elected officials in Los Angeles and mid-state New York who are looking at similar ordinances.

SuzanneAugust 24, 2022August 27, 2022Climate Change & Energy, TransportationHighway 37, sea level rise, wetlands

Sea level rise threatens Highway 37; leaders prepare billion dollar plan to stop it

Chase Hunter, NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL

Highway 37 serves as a key artery of Bay Area traffic from Marin County to Vallejo, but its low-lying place in former wetlands makes it susceptible to flooding and sea level rise over coming decades.

Leaders in transportation will need to address two issues at once to ensure the long-term sustainability of the key corridor: the creation of flood-resistant, sea-level impervious infrastructure and the environmental restoration of the wetlands.

“You can’t do the environmental restoration and address sea level rise without doing the transportation project. And you can’t do the transportation improvement projects without addressing sea level rise,” said Suzanne Smith, the executive director of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority.

Environmental Center of Sonoma County

Category: Transportation