Busy Sonoma-to-Napa commuter route to get bike-friendly safety upgrades

Bicycle safety improvements along a busy commuter route between Sonoma and Napa counties are going in, four years after Sonoma County required the upgrades as conditions for the expansion of Mark West Quarry east of Santa Rosa.

The work, which includes wider shoulders and flashing beacons, is happening along the east-west corridor of Mark West Springs Road and Porter Creek Road, where the quarry is located near the intersection of Calistoga Road and Petrified Forest Road.

Cycling advocates pushed for roadway improvements along the route when BoDean Co. sought county approval in 2013 to move onto a 33-acre site west of its long-established operation. County supervisors approved the permit with additional road improvements on the busy haul route.

“We’re excited. As you know, it’s a pretty hairy road to bike on,” Alisha O’Loughlin, executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, said this week of the upgrades.

Mike Straka can attest to the corridor’s treacherous nature, both from the perspective of a seasoned cyclist and as a commuter who drives the route from his home in Calistoga to his job as a corporate executive in Rohnert Park.

“There’s no way I’d ride that stretch of road because of traffic,” Straka said. “Having said that, I’ll be interested in what the improvements are. Hopefully they’ll make me comfortable riding through there.”

The county has identified the corridor as a priority for enhancing bicycle and pedestrian safety. But officials say funding shortfalls and the complexity of doing construction work in the environmentally sensitive watershed have prevented full installation of those upgrades.

BoDean is paying to widen a 600-foot section of the road near Mark West Springs Lodge.

The work was supposed to start Monday but has been pushed back due to scheduling conflicts with the contractor, according to Charlie Young, BoDean’s director of operations.

He said the work, which will involve lane closures and one-way traffic control, may be rescheduled for later this month. The job is expected to take a week.

BoDean also is paying for striping and signs to create bike lanes on Mark West Springs and Porter Creek totaling roughly 3 miles in both directions, according to the county. The flashing beacons are along the narrowest sections of roadway.

The company’s roadway contributions total $570,000.

Young cited a number of factors for why it has taken four years to start work on the road improvements, including design approval and delays caused by winter rains.

An environmental impact report prepared for the company’s permit application found the quarry expansion could add 37 to 59 truck trips a day on the east-west route. But that forecast did not pan out, according to Young, who said the move into the other quarry site has not increased truck trips.

“You’re still processing the same,” Young said. “It’s not that you are moving into an area and processing more. Where you were mining before is exhausted.”

County supervisors on Tuesday are expected to approve funding for the summer paving program, which as of now includes a 3.5-mile stretch of Mark West Springs heading east from Ursuline Road, and a 1.45-mile section of Porter Creek between Cresta Road and Wilson Road, east of Safari West.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com.