In response to residents' concerns, Petaluma will postpone the City Council's review of a planned interim bicycle boulevard until next year.
On Monday, the council approved a public hearing, with a possible vote to approve the final design for the project, for its Dec. 20 meeting. But several residents of the affected streets objected to the timeframe, saying there has been little public input on the plan.
The city has a $50,000 grant that is being used to plan changes to East D Street between Payran and Wilson Streets. The plan includes removing stop signs at three intersections and replacing them with yield signs and traffic circles.
But at the only public airing of the plan in October, the vast majority of residents raised in attendance concerns about aesthetics, traffic flow and the safety of walkers, bicyclists and motorists. Only a handful supported the idea as described.
Residents balked this week when the item scheduling approval of the project appeared on the next agenda.
City traffic engineer Curt Bates said Thursday the city now is working to schedule a public demonstration on East D Street to show residents how a fire truck would maneuver through the traffic circles.
Then the city's bicycle and pedestrian committee will hold another public hearing to solicit further public input, he said.
Dates and locations for both meetings haven't been finalized.
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