Santa Rosa construction prompts Todd Road detour through September

Westbound traffic could be detoured as far as 4 miles around a Highway 101 overcrossing for nearly two months while bridge railings are repaired beginning Monday.

Railings are being repaired on Todd Road and, once completed in late-September, will be sturdier, easier to maintain and improve safety whenever a crash occurs, according to Caltrans.

The project costs about $2.9 million, which also covers similar work on Baker Avenue in Santa Rosa and Miller Creek Road in San Rafael.

Todd Road runs east and west and work will begin on the north railings. Westbound lanes will close and travelers in that direction will be detoured around the overcrossing.

This applies for the duration of the project, since eastbound traffic will pass through the westbound lanes when work shifts to the southern railings.

This minimizes confusion and reduces the need to reassign detours when work moves from one side of Todd to the other, Caltrans spokesman Jeff Weiss said.

The detour essentially forces westbound drivers to get on and off Highway 101 and, depending on their direction of travel, return to where they came from.

West of the freeway, scattered homes and businesses are on Todd and residents in that area are most likely to be affected by the detour.

One of those residents, Andrew Steen of Santa Rosa, believes the best way to avoid the detour is to stay west of the freeway.

“If you don’t get on the freeway or cross it, you don’t have to deal with the confusion,” Steen, 23, said last week when he learned about the project. “The route has a lot of back and forth. It’s a hassle.”

To avoid possible traffic backups, Caltrans suggests the following routes:

• From northbound Highway 101: Exit at Yolanda Avenue, turn left onto Santa Rosa Avenue, left onto Hearn Avenue, left onto Corby Avenue, left onto southbound Highway 101 and back to the off-ramp toward westbound Todd.

• From northbound Santa Rosa Avenue: Head north and turn left onto Hearn, left onto Corby and south onto Highway 101 toward the off-ramp at Todd.

• From southbound Santa Rosa Avenue (south of Hearn): Turn right onto Todd, exit onto northbound Highway 101, exit at Yolanda, turn left onto Santa Rosa, left onto Hearn, left onto Corby and get onto southbound Highway 101 toward the off-ramp at Todd.

• From southbound Santa Rosa Avenue (north of Hearn): Turn right onto Hearn, left onto Corby, left onto southbound Highway 101 toward the off-ramp at Todd.

• From Yolanda Avenue: Turn right onto Santa Rosa, left onto Hearn, left onto Corby and left onto southbound Highway 101 toward the off-ramp at Todd.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi