Petaluma officials to weigh final Rainier EIR

The final environmental study for Petaluma’s long-debated Rainier Avenue crosstown connector, which would provide drivers another way to get across town, is headed to the City Council in late July or early August after getting a mixed reaction last week from the city’s Planning Commission.

Many city officials believe time is of the essence in approving the environmental impact report so that Caltrans does its part to make the project possible by including space for an undercrossing when it widens Highway 101 through the northern stretch of Petaluma.

“We absolutely as a city need to be in a position where we have (environmental) clearance for the undercrossing,” Councilman Mike Healy said.

The massive project, estimated to cost $61 million, is meant to ease notorious crosstown traffic congestion by providing another way to travel over the highway, train tracks and river that divide east and west Petaluma. Currently, drivers are limited to taking an overpass at East Washington Street or less direct routes at Old Redwood Highway, Lakeville Street or Corona Road.

The approval of the environmental report would be a significant step forward for the project, which has been discussed by city officials for more than half a century and is called for in the city’s general plan. To date, political division over the merits and environmental impacts of the connector have stalled its progress.

Plans call for Rainier Avenue to be extended .65 miles west from its current terminus at North McDowell Boulevard, taking drivers first under Highway 101, then over the Petaluma River and railroad tracks before returning to ground level at Petaluma Boulevard North.

But in order for the road to cross under Highway 101, Caltrans must raise that portion of the highway when it widens lanes between Highway 116 and Old Redwood Highway. The state agency will only do so if Petaluma has signaled its commitment to building the crosstown connector through approval of the environmental study, officials said.

City leaders want to be ready with an approved study in the event that funds for the ?$100 million highway widening come available soon.

“I think it’s imperative that we don’t get walled in,” said Mayor David Glass, who has voiced concerns about the project’s ability to deliver the promised traffic relief but last September voted to approve the draft EIR. “If there’s ever going to be this road, whether I agree with it or not, the road needs to go under the freeway.”

But last week, the city’s Planning Commission reviewed the project and split over whether to recommend approval to the council.

The three commissioners who voted against approval - Jennifer Pierre, Bill Wolpert and Jocelyn Lin - expressed concern that the connector would not reduce the overall amount of traffic in town. Rather, they said, the environmental study shows it would improve traffic at some intersections while making it worse at others.

“I’m torn,” said Lin, the commission chair. “I see we have a window of opportunity” to approve the project report before the Highway 101 widening. “At the same time, I don’t feel that’s sufficient (cause) to move forward when there are still lots of unanswered questions.”

Wolpert expressed concern that the connector would justify more car-centered development at a time when the city should be encouraging alternative modes of transit.

“I keep referring back to the objectives of the EIR and I think that, at best, only half the objectives are realistically being met,” Wolpert said. “I don’t think the relief we’re seeking is going to be solved by a crosstown connector because traffic issues are the result of poorly planned, auto-centric developments and a lack of pedestrian bike lanes and infrastructure.”

The other commissioners - Gina Benedetti-Petnic, Richard Marzo and Diana Gomez - said that while the project wasn’t perfect, the need to provide traffic relief overrode their concerns. Teresa Barrett, the seventh commissioner and liaison from the City Council, could not attend the meeting.

Benedetti-Petnic said the environmental study showed many more intersections would have improved traffic conditions with the completion of the crosstown connector.

“Yes it’s a shifting of traffic, but we’ve improved the big picture and met the objective,” she said. “I’m satisfied.”

Gomez said she still had concerns about potentially increased flooding along the Petaluma River a result of the connector. But as an eastside resident who often needs to get across town, she saw a great need for another way across town.

Some council members said they had not yet had a chance to fully review the planning commission meeting or read the final environmental study. All said they would take commissioners’ opinions into consideration while reviewing the report.

Some council members were hoping to see questions or concerns addressed that they had raised last fall in commenting on the draft study. At the same time, support for the project is likely to be stronger at the City Council than it was at the Planning Commission: Last fall, all seven councilmembers voted to approve the draft environmental study, despite some voicing worries about funding, the amount of traffic relief and potential flooding.

Councilman Dave King will be reviewing the EIR for the first time since he was elected in November. He said that while he’s not bound by the planning commissioners’ opinions, he’ll be taking them into consideration.

However, he said, the point about Rainier merely spreading out traffic among intersections didn’t worry him.

“That’s actually the point,” he said. “The point is to move cars from the heavily impacted Washington Street across town. Building Rainier is not a traffic minimalization; it’s a traffic mitigation. We do have goals to try to get people out of their cars and walk more places, but there are going to be cars on the road. We need to make the flow of traffic better and I think Rainier would do that.”

If the environmental study is approved, the city estimates that construction would begin in 2017 and take about two and a half years to complete. However, the actual start date is dependent on two factors.

The first is widening Highway 101. Caltrans is about $85 million short on the $100 million project, according to information provided by the Sonoma County Transportation Authority.

Second, Petaluma must come up with the money to build the $61 million crosstown connector. The draft environmental impact report identified about $30 million in potential funding from future fees associated with new development.

That’s not including the cost of a highway interchange meant to be built in conjunction with the connector. In 2010, the council voted to separate the two elements so that the less costly connector could be planned in coordination with the Highway 101 widening.

While Healy said development impact fees could eventually pay for the connector, he and other council members agreed that voters would likely need to approve a sales tax to make up the difference in the short term. Last fall, Measure Q, a 1 percent sales tax increase, failed. The soonest another sales tax could be placed on the ballot would be in 2016.

“The question becomes, will people actually tax themselves to build it?” said Glass, who described the crosstown connector as “not a traffic relief proposal, but a development solution.” He said any tax proposal should be clear about that so voters could make an informed decision.

He proposed a scenario where the tax would fund the project in the short term but developers would pay back the cost over time, freeing up taxpayer money to be spent on road repair.

Councilman Chris Albertson said the city would have to come up with “a more intelligent sales pitch” for a tax. That might include a smaller increase than previous proposals.

Councilman Gabe Kearney said funding will be the biggest challenge for the city.

“We do need a way to improve traffic circulation patterns in this city, but at the same time we need a way to fund it,” he said.

Staff Writer Jamie Hansen blogs about education at extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach her at 521-5205 or jamie.hansen@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jamiehansen.