A Press Democrat Blog

Road Warrior

Trying to make sense out of getting around

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

Friday, at 8:10 by

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 »

Big changes for Highways 12-121 intersection / see photo

Thursday, at 5:27 by

Caltrans this week began construction work on reconfiguring the intersection of Highways 12 and 121 south of Sonoma, putting a traffic light there and changing the habits of many drivers. The project, which is costing $2.4 million for the construction, will realign Highway 12 and cause it to meet Highway 121 in a T-intersection. Now, the two highways meet at an angle. Just to the northeast of the Highway 12 intersection, Fremont Road intersects with 121. Many, if not nearly… Read More »

Highway 121 down to one lane

Monday, at 9:05 by

Caltrans’ road work will force one lane of Highway 121 to be closed at Highway 12 south of Sonoma every night this week. The one-way traffic control will be from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night this week, starting Monday night. The road work also will narrow the open lane, so drivers should be extra alert when going through the construction area. ————– Follow the Road Warrior on Twitter via @PDRoadWarrior

Anti-DUI task force gets $300,000

Thursday, at 5:18 by

Sonoma County’s anti-DUI campaign will continue after the state awarded a $300,000 grant for the Avoid the 13 task force. The task force, which includes all police agencies in the county and is coordinated by Petaluma police, had a three-year grant of $659,000 that ended Sept. 30. The money pays for various anti-DUI operations, such as checkpoints and saturation patrols, and covers the overtime of officers participating in the operations. Petaluma Sgt. Ken Savano, who is in his fourth year… Read More »

Highway 116 paving times corrected

Friday, at 9:23 by

Caltrans today corrected the hours when crews this weekend will be repaving Highway 116 from Adobe Road in Petaluma to Arnold Drive in Sonoma. Tonight’s work will be from 8 until 8 a.m. Saturday. Sunday night’s work will be from 7 until 6 a.m. Monday. The work will continue next week with crews starting at 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and continuing until 5 o’clock the following morning. Caltrans’ announcement warns of traffic delays and suggests taking an alternate… Read More »

Hwy. 116 paving starts tonight

Wednesday, at 11:49 by

Caltrans tonight will begin repaving Highway 116 from Adobe Road in Petaluma to Arnold Drive in Sonoma for the next several nights. The work will be 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. tonight and Thursday night. Then 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Friday and Sunday nights. Then 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, Tuesday and next Wednesday nights. Caltrans’ announcement warns of traffic delays and suggests taking an alternate route.

Mission bells coming to Sonoma County

Wednesday, at 5:41 by

The final leg of Caltrans’ Mission Bell project is set for San Rafael to Sonoma, with 40 bells lining Highways 101, 37, 12 and 121. The state Transportation Commission recently approved $161,000 for the manufacture and installation of the bells. The state erected the first bells in 1906 along the historic El Camino Real route from San Diego to San Francisco and by 1913 more than 450 bells had been erected one to two miles apart, according to Caltrans. Over… Read More »

New local road projects OK’d

Tuesday, at 7:01 by

The state Transportation Commission last week approved several road projects for Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma counties, with the biggest chunk being $45 million to replace the Highway 101 bridges over the Petaluma River with wider spans to allow car-pool lanes. Click here to read about that. Among the other projects approved locally are: –$6.1 million to repave stretches of Highways 29 and 53 in Lake County. The Highway 29 work will go from just south of the junction with Highway… Read More »

Bay Area annual pothole report

Wednesday, at 11:36 by

Roads maintained by Sonoma County no longer are the worst in the Bay Area — they’re second worse. In its annual pothole report, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission reported today that the county roads last year had a pavement condition index of 45, which is rated as poor. But that’s one point higher than the rating of 44 that the county received in 2006, 2007 and 2008 — all years in which it ranked at the bottom of MTC’s list. The… Read More »