Planning continues to improve intersection

March 22, 2006

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

David Knight, director of the Sonoma County Transport-ation and Public Works Department, said that planning is continuing for improvement to the Adobe Road-East Washington Street intersection, but that further construction would probably not take place until at least next spring.

Planning for the T-shaped intersection where four Petaluma teens were killed and two others injured in a Dec. 13 car accident is continuing as scheduled, within budget constraints.

"We're now working on an $850,000 project," Knight said. That money would pay for the next phase of improvements to the intersection that will eventually cost between $1.3 million to $1.5 million overall.

The $850,000 will pay for purchase of the adjacent private land, as well as construction of a left-turn lane from northbound Adobe Road and a right-turn lane from eastbound East Washington. Additionally, the project could include a red-amber-green traffic signal and movement of utility poles and wires, which are necessary for completion of the final phase of intersection improvements.

Currently, the intersection has stop signs and a flashing red beacon. There are also advance warning amber beacons on Adobe Road northbound and southbound, as well as yellow warning signs in all three directions. Further, the three stop signs at the intersection each have two red flags sticking out from the top of them.

The current upgrade from the single stop sign on East Washington present on Dec. 13 was finished Feb. 3. But two days later, four cars were involved in a chain-reaction collision at 6:55 a.m. No one was injured.

The county has $250,000 in carryover funds from this year's budget to use on the project, and is looking for $600,000 in new money to complete the next phase. That money could come in the fiscal year beginning July 1 from a Prop. 42 gas tax allocation from the state, which gave the county more than $2 million during this fiscal year. That money is not guaranteed, however, as the state directed the funds elsewhere during the previous two years.

"We may come to next (fiscal) year and still not have the $850,000," Knight said.

The county has been planning for some time the traffic light at the intersection to make traffic flow more efficient, Knight said, and is continuing on its previous schedule.

"We were working on it way before there was an accident," he said.

There are no plans to change the speed limit on that part of Adobe, Knight said, due to the advance beacon warnings.

After this next phase, the county plans to construct a right-turn lane from southbound Adobe Road, which will cost more because of the need to extend a box culvert running underneath Adobe Road. Also, a nearby nursery on Adobe will need a left turn lane. That project is unrelated but might take place simultaneously.

"Our first priority is the right of way," Knight said. That includes the acquisition of adjacent land from three or four private landowners. It is unknown how much that land will cost.

The second priority is to move the utilities. This would be done all at the same time. Although moving the utility poles is usually done by the relevant utility companies at no charge, there is an engineering cost to the project. Most of the costs are for construction.

Knight also said that negotiations for right of way can often slow projects. If things go well, he said, negotiations can often take six or seven months. If necessary, the county could claim eminent domain, but that would take even longer, and could only be authorized by the Board of Supervisors.

Knight said that using eminent domain is "always an option, but we don't like to do it if we don't have to."

As the county doesn't generally do these types of projects during the wet winter months, Knight said the project would not likely begin until next spring at the earliest. Once the project has begun, it couldtake four to five months.

The environmental study has already been done.

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com)