A collection of comments from Road Warrior readers:
Bicycling and surviving road construction
I live in Larkfield where Sutter is working on the new hospital. They blocked up Old River Road for months in a narrow configuration that put bicycles directly into traffic with cars and trucks exiting the freeway. The good news is that they’ve finally removed the barriers but neither my husband nor I wanted to be on our bicycles along that route while it was such a mess.
I do try to ride my bike and sometimes try to get to my church along Shiloh Road west of 101. I go out along Airport way which has a nice bike line and cut north on Skyline, returning east toward the freeway on Shilo. Only I used to but I don’t any longer. Another massive, prolonged construction project has narrowed the right of way to prioritize cars over bike or people.
If we’re going to be a bike friendly county, if we’re going to make bicycling part of our tourist economy or personal health self-care then it is way past time for everyone, including road construction/reconstruction planners to be thinking about bike and pedestrians as well as cars if right of ways are going to be disrupted for months and months. Signed, Nervous bicyclist.
101 at Fulton Road: A bad intersection
I know you have written on bad intersections before, but I have to say the two ramps from Highway 101 to Fulton road are some of the worst intersections, not because of how they are built, but how poorly drivers follow the yield signs. Just this afternoon a 10-yard dump truck decided even though there was only 60 feet between me and the car in front to try to jump in-between us from a dead stop while we were going about 35 mph making me have to slam on my brakes and others behind me as well in order not to get side swiped by him. I have seen other accidents in the area most look to be side swipes from people not yielding to the Fulton road drivers who have the right of way.
We need more enforcement of that yield sign, or we need to adjust it to a stop sign in order to protect people from this. Keith
From the Road Warrior: Caltrans plans to get rid of the Fulton/101 interchange once it remodels the Airport Boulevard/101 interchange just to the north. That work may start this fall will completion expected in 2014. CLICK HERE for a previous column on it.
Speeders in the construction zone
My biggest gripe is for the construction zones on 101, people are driving way over 65 continuously, I believe a law was passed that in any construction/cone zone the speed limit is 55 posted or not. The worst offenders are from Petaluma to Santa Rosa. In all the time they’ve been working on that section I have seen 1 CHP car at a standstill with lights flashing for the work crew. Why are these drivers not being ticketed? 2) people still using their cellphones while driving. And would I love to have a police car in a few grocery store parking lots. It’s a wonder people walking aren’t hit every day. Barb
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Joe
Just a thought with the car pool lanes. Since the speed limit in construction zones is 55 and people get so impatient why not, in construction zone, do away with the car pool lanes? I’m not saying people still won’t speed but at least the traffic flow will be alittle better than it is now. Just a thought.
August 18th, 2012 9:31 am
jimmy j
whine when the roads are being fixed, whine because the roads arent fixed. QUIT WHINING.
August 18th, 2012 1:36 pm
Sarah
OMG rejoice because the roads are being fixed and those people are WORKING in Sonoma County. They are making a decent wage with benefits to make roads safer FOR ALL. The Bike Sergeants (I can think of a better name to call them from a Jerry Seinfeld soup episode) need to quit behaving like the 1%.
August 18th, 2012 3:24 pm
trent
I refuse to drive 55 in the so called “construction zone”. It is now the newest smoothest, straightest, least dangerous stretch of road on the outdated freeway. It should be raised back to at least 65mph while they are not working directly on it. It is basically now a speed trap, where they can generate double fines to rake in the easy money. Lets quite screwing the public and raise it back where it should be.
August 18th, 2012 4:06 pm
Jeff
Good luck with that Jimmy. People just need to whine about something to make themselves feel complete.
August 18th, 2012 5:09 pm
sheryl
People, please get over it. Ticketing people for not following the law is NOT a revenue raising opportunity! If it were, the CHP would be on through the construction zone all day, every day. I drive that stretch twice everyday, and in all the months construction has been going on, I have only seen the CHP set up traps one time. If it were about increasing revenue, they could balance California’s budget in just the short stretch from Petaluma to Santa Rosa in about a week.
August 19th, 2012 6:53 am
Fred Mangels
Barb wrote, “people still using their cellphones while driving. And would I love to have a police car in a few grocery store parking lots..
I’m assuming Barb is referring to people who get into their car after shopping, stick their cellphone to their ear and start talking as they drive away?
I’m one who opposed drive while chatting laws originally, but now that they’re here, fine. I’ve also opposed efforts to increase fines for chatting while driving.
I have seen people get into their cars and pull their cellphone to their ears as they drive away. That, to me, is inexplicable as they can always finish their phone call before driving off. If someone starts their phone conversation while parked and continues the call while driving away, that DOES deserve a double or tripled fine as far as I’m concerned.
August 19th, 2012 7:18 am