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Road Warrior

Trying to make sense out of getting around

Update on Highway 101 project

If you’re tired of the uneven pavement on Highway 101 between Rohnert Park and Petaluma, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Caltrans spokesman Robert Haus says the final paving project is set to start June 4 and will take about four to six weeks to complete. That’s weather permitting. A streak of rain or unusually cold weather could pushed that back a bit. As for the last segments of the Wilfred Avenue and Commerce Boulevard overpasses in Rohnert… Read More »

Sound Off: Readers’ gripes and comments

Here are a few thoughts from Road Warrior readers: A DANGEROUS INTERSECTION Now that the Spring is here and people are out buying plants for the yards, perhaps you could help me understand a dangerous intersection. People turning from Highway 12 to Calistoga Road and in the left left-turn lane sometimes then turn left into the nursery just when you turn on Calistoga Road immediately. Of course, this is a complete surprise to the drivers behind them and probably an… Read More »

Mailbag: Missing speed limit. Traffic cams. 12/121 flooding

Here’s a question from a reader: Redwood Drive is the frontage road west of Highway 101 in Rohnert Park.  If you head north onto Redwood Drive from Business Park Drive, next to The Press Democrat facility, there is not a speed limit sign until just before Wilfred.  There used to be a sign previous to the 101 construction, but it has gone missing for a year or more. This has affected some of our industrial park customers since the police… Read More »

Rohnert Park road to be closed

Caltrans plans to shut Commerce Boulevard under Highway 101 in Rohnert Park on Friday night. The closure will be 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday to allow construction crews to remove falsework from a new overpass built over Commerce. The overpass is part of Caltrans’ project to widen Highway 101 to six lanes through Rohnert Park. Drivers can get across Highway 101 by using Rohnert Park Expressway to the south. ———— Follow the Road Warrior on Twitter via @PDRoadWarrior

Highway 101 offramp, lane closures Tuesday night

Caltrans is closing a couple of offramps and lanes of Highway 101 tonight. It is shutting the southbound Todd Road and Wilfred Avenue offramps from 8 tonight until 5 a.m. Wednesday and is blocking off two lanes of southbound 101 from Todd in south Santa Rosa to Wilfred in Rohnert Park, with one lane closing at 8 p.m. and the ssecond at 10 p.m. Caltrans’ announcement didn’t say what’s prompting the closures, and a Caltrans spokesman was unavailable for comment.… Read More »

Mailbag: Trash along Hwy. 101 and Petaluma sound walls

Here are a couple of questions from readers regarding Highway 101. First: I’m concerned with the amount of debris that is building up along the 101 concrete median divider from Windsor to Rohnert Park. Is the cleanup Caltrans’ responsibility or the county or the city? It’s becoming an eyesore and an embarrassment. Steve The answer comes from Caltrans spokesman Robert Haus: Our maintenance folks had some problems with sweepers breaking down, which put them behind schedule. They’ve scheduled the sweeping… Read More »

Are you speeding in the Hwy. 101 construction zone?

A pet peeve of many Road Warrior readers is speeding in the Highway 101 construction zone from Rohnert Park to Petaluma. CHP officers are on it. Lately in the evening, one or two officers have been standing along the shoulder of southbound 101 — behind K-rails — checking drivers’ speeds with their LIDAR  guns. Last night, one officer was just south of Commerce Boulevard while another was on the Petaluma side of the Cotati Grade, both shooting LIDAR. You couldn’t… Read More »

10 Christmas wishes for Sonoma County drivers

Here’s my Christmas wish list for drivers: 1. That everyone who just has to use their cellphone while driving goes hands-free. Buy a Bluetooth or something. Too many times have I seen a driver holding his/her phone and not paying attention. 2. That those who violate the cellphone law get ticketed. 3. That the CHP really crack down on car-pool lane violators, not just a day here and there. If we have to have car-pool lanes, then enforce the law.… Read More »

This 2-hour class may save your life

Here’s a class that every teen driver should take, and if they do, they may just save their life. The CHP is offering a two-hour class for teens 15 to 19 and their parents about the rights and wrongs of driving and how to avoid crashes and tickets. Thousands of collisions involving teens happen every year in California. The CHP said that from 2007 through 2009, there were more than 31,000 fatal and injury crashes involving at least one teen… Read More »

Commerce Blvd. closed at night

Caltrans plans to close Commerce Boulevard under Highway 101 in Rohnert Park overnight Thursday and Friday as crews continue work on building an overpass there. Commerce is scheduled to be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Caltrans said it might have to close Commerce a couple of nights next week too. ———– Follow the Road Warrior on Twitter via @PDRoadWarrior