A Press Democrat Blog

Road Warrior

Trying to make sense out of getting around

Smart driving for teens, with a little help from the CHP

Wednesday, at 8:26 by

The CHP is offering a free class for newly licensed teen drivers to help them be safe on the roads. The two-hour class is offered at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at the Rohnert Park office. Call 588-1400 to get your name in or to get more information. Parents are strongly encouraged to attend with their teens. During the class, officers and speakers discuss safe driving habits and how to avoid collisions. “Our goal is to… Read More »

Caltrans’ Christmas gift to Sonoma County drivers

Monday, at 12:58 by

Just in time for Christmas, Caltrans has boosted the speed limit between Rohnert Park and Petaluma on Highway 101 back to 65 after so many years of construction to widen the highway. Now, drivers have been going 65 on that stretch for months ever since Caltrans finished paving the road, and even before that. But now it’s official. Merry Christmas. ——— Follow the Road Warrior on Twitter via @PDRoadWarrior

DUI/license checkpoint in Rohnert Park

Friday, at 8:00 by

Rohnert Park police plan a DUI/license checkpoint on Friday night. The location isn’t being disclosed, but it’ll run from 6 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday. It’s one of three checkpoints Rohnert Park plans in upcoming months. Sgt. Aaron Johnson says while checkpoints don’t yield many DUI arrests, they serve as a strong deterrence because word spreads about the checkpoints and that makes people reconsider any plans to drink and drive. He notes  a typical Rohnert Park checkpoint screens about… Read More »

DUI/license checkpoint this weekend in Santa Rosa

Thursday, at 9:22 by

Santa Rosa police on Saturday  night plan a DUI/license checkpoint. As is usual, police aren’t saying where, but it’ll be from 8 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday. In the past, Santa Rosa’s checkpoints usually have been scheduled to end at 1 a.m., so this one is unusually extra long. Police couldn’t be reached to explain why. The checkpoint is funded by a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. UPDATE: Rohnert… Read More »

Fix a pothole? Rohnert Park has an app for that

Friday, at 9:56 by

Find a pothole that needs to be fixed? A stop sign knocked over? A street light out? You can report problems like those and more in Rohnert Park to the city via your smartphone. Pat Barnes, the city’s deputy city engineer, says that with the app, one could take a photo of a problem, such as a pothole or a knocked over street sign, and send it in to the city along with location and any comments. That message is… Read More »

Group pushing for better roads netting headlines, success

Monday, at 4:02 by

It’s only about a year old, but the group Save Our Sonoma Roads is making headlines and scoring some success. Last Tuesday, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved spending $6.5 million on repairs for 13.2 miles of roads — a feat that SOS Roads takes some credit for. Last Thursday, the Wall St. Journal published a story in its Bay Area edition on SOS’s campaign to get the county to spend more on road repairs. The article promptly was… Read More »

The worst road in Sonoma County is …

Monday, at 2:50 by

It’s only a mile long, but it’s narrow, cracked, sections of its sides are dropping away and it’s riddled with pothole patches with more potholes unfilled. It’s Keiser Avenue in Rohnert Park, and it’s the worst road in Sonoma County, according to readers who voted in the Road Warrior’s Third Annual Worst Road Contest. A total of 82 roads were singled out by readers as their worst, and although Keiser “won” this year, a drive around the county, particularly in… Read More »

Mailbag: Why Rohnert Park traffic signal’s so frustrating

Friday, at 6:45 by

Here’s a question from a reader: Are you able to find out when “they” intend to take the signals off of timers in the Rohnert Park construction area?  Meaning, those signals that were recently replaced (or created with the new Golf Course undercrossing). They’ve been on timers all throughout the construction phases, and now it appears the street construction is over, but yet the lights are still on timers, creating long waits often when there is no other traffic present… Read More »

New northbound Highway 101 opens in Rohnert Park

Wednesday, at 9:49 by

Ahh, finally. Caltrans on Wednesday morning opened the third northbound lane of Highway 101 through Rohnert Park and plans to open the third southbound lane on Thursday morning. Work to widen the highway in Rohnert Park began three years ago. Some finishing touches remain in both directions, including paving and striping. The third lanes will be carpool only during commute hours, ending the bottleneck carpoolers encountered in Rohnert Park where there were only two lanes and no carpool lane. Now,… Read More »

Lane closures this week by Caltrans

Sunday, at 6:18 by

Caltrans plans the following lanes closures this week because of road projects: –Highway 101, northbound and southbound between Rohnert Park Expressway and Santa Rosa Avenue, one lane closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Friday. –Highway 101, northbound and southbound between Corona Road in Petaluma and the Rohnert Park Expressway, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday with various lanes and ramps closed. –Highway 101, southbound near Railroad Avenue, from Friday through Monday, Aug. 27, lane… Read More »