US 101 - Widening - Novato to Santa Rosa

[Voyager]

I live along the US 101 corridor in Rohnert Park, and the highway has been widened from Santa Rosa to here, but not yet from here to Novato. Does anyone have some current information on whether or not the highway will be upgraded even to freeway standards anytime soon?

[mapman]

Here's what the environmental impact report for the Marin-Sonoma Narrows project and various Caltrans web sites say about US 101 widenings (as posted on the Caltrans District 4 web site  -- www.dot.ca.gov/dist4):

Caltrans plans to add carpool lanes in the following locations south of Santa Rosa:

* Santa Rosa Avenue in Santa Rosa to Rohnert Park Expressway in Rohnert Park -- currently in final design; no construction date provided
* Rohnert Park Expressway to Petaluma Boulevard North in Petaluma -- environmental review currently underway; no construction date provided
* Petaluma Boulevard North/Old Redwood Highway to State Route 37 in Novato (Marin-Sonoma Narrows project) -- Year 2010 (if funding available)

[Voyager]

Great! The narrows is one of the most difficult places to navigate for me, there's always a ton of traffic, and the non freeway status doesn't help. I wonder what they're going to do with those intersections though.

[John]

I hate the narrows, I don't go up to Sonoma often, but when I do, they are always a mess of trucks and such. Sometimes I have to flip a u-turn at the Novato landfill and go down 37 to 121 to 116 instead. Last I read about the interchanges was there will be one at San Antonio Road, one at Olompali State Park and one at Kastania Road.

[mapman]

Responding to voyager's question, Caltrans plans to build one new interchange, reconstruct an existing one, and add frontage roads.

The new interchange will be near San Antonio Road.  The reconstructed one will be the Petaluma Boulevard South interchange.  Frontage roads will connect these interchanges and extend southward down into Novato, providing access to all the streets and private driveways in this area.

I feel sorry for the gas station at Kastania Road and US 101 near Petaluma -- access to it will be very indirect with this layout, and will probably kill its business.

[Voyager]

Yes! That gas station probably has the cheapest gas in all of California.

[John]

I heard they were making an interchange at that intersection, probably for the gas station.

[Voyager]

I don't think there is enough space there to add in on and offramps.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=qc1kyp4sgy3q&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=8739132&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

[mapman]

John, my understanding from the project EIR is that the interchange would be built between Petaluma Blvd. South and the northern Kastania Road intersection.  The gas station is located at the southern Kastania Road intersection, thereby requiring patrons of the gas station to drive one-half mile down a frontage road to reach the gas station.

The EIR can be viewed/downloaded from the Caltrans District 4 web site here:  http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/msn/msn_deir_s/msn_deir_vol1.pdf
(note -- it's about 43 MB in size)

[John]

Yes, you guys are right. It's a good read too, I'm pretty into it right now.

[DukeOfURL]

It would seem to me that they (caltrans) are concentrating on widening the northern part right now, from Windsor to SR, or at least thinking about it, I base this on the fact that there are concrete barriers crowding the #1 lane and plenty of warning overhead power line signes.

[Voyager]

Yup, another 8 miles of freeway from Shiloh Road to Steele Lane will be getting the carpool lane.

[wishfulanthony]

On the newswire: last February 1st, the portion between N San Pedro Road/Lincoln Avenue to the Central San Rafael exit has been widened to 4 lanes, and the opening of a new carpool lane southbound now provides some relief to commuters from Novato to San Rafael.

Carpool lanes in Marin: from CA-37 to Mill Valley/CA-1 exit (SB); from Mill Valley/CA-1 exit to Lucky Drive, then from N San Pedro Road to CA-37 (NB)

The Novato Narrows: well, it will take some time for construction to begin, with funding (probably) not enough at the moment to fund the expansion of the Narrows. In the meanwhile, expect congestion between Petaluma and Novato...

[Voyager]

On the newswire: last February 1st, the portion between N San Pedro Road/Lincoln Avenue to the Central San Rafael exit has been widened to 4 lanes, and the opening of a new carpool lane southbound now provides some relief to commuters from Novato to San Rafael.

The funny thing about that...San Pedro Road has ALWAYS been the main backup on 101 north of San Francisco, and when I drove to the bridge last saturday, even though the new lane was open, I think people were so confused by it that there was STILL a backup there. The new lane was definitely nice though, I definitely like it more.

[wishfulanthony]

Hahaha... that's the "bottleneck" area, so to speak.

Prior to the opening of the new lane, the backup went as far as Atherton/San Marin Drive, causing problems on the side roads around Novato and San Rafael (especially exiting at Atherton, Rowland, and Ignacio exits in Novato, and Marinwood, Lucas Valley, and Terra Linda exits in San Rafael) to bypass the whole mess! Now, the backup is now as far as after Alameda del Prado or Marinwood -- the back up is still there, but not as bad as the last time.

[John]

I just drove that last night. The new lane and signage are nice, but it still has a backup problem. When they finish the carpool lane, they can probably get rid of the backup even more.

[wishfulanthony]

Hopefully so, John... I suffer the brunt of the morning commute many times of the week! I live up close to Ignacio (at Hamilton), and I do the Novato to San Rafael leg of the US-101 a lot -- the tie-up really starts from Marinwood all the way to the construction site, and I commute by bus, so I predict that if I take a freeway bus (GGT Routes 52, 70, 71, 80) to go to San Rafael instead of the "local" bus (GGT Route 49), it will get me there faster, in which I proved right yesterday.

[John]

Wow Hamilton. I haven't in there since it was an active military base. It looks nice from what I've seen of it (not much). But back on topic, the best long term fix is probably SMART. It has been proved many times over that you can't build your way out of congestion with more and more lanes and freeways.

[wishfulanthony]

Well, Hamilton today is nicer and more accessible, thanks to a lot of development. There is now a new community shopping center at Nave Drive and Hamilton Pkwy, called Hamilton Marketplace, which hosts, along with the existing Courtyard by Marriott Hotel and McDonald's, new shops, anchored by Safeway, along with Peet's Coffee, Wells Fargo, Pet Food Express, and a V Wireless store open for business. The residential development has grown a lot in Hamilton that the New Beginnings center has expanded and renamed Homeward Bound, a rehabilitation place for those who underwent jail time or medical treatment. It also has a bus service that goes through the area everyday instead of just weekdays since 2006.

[John]

Yeah I've seen the shopping center and some kind of mobile home park, but that was all I knew about it.

[NE2]

Did adventure number 1 just break the record for biggest necropost?

No.