Sebastopol city officials favor the idea of restoring two-way vehicle traffic to the city’s downtown, in an effort to slow speeds and create safer streets. But it is still unclear how bike facilities will fit into plans for the area.
For over a year, the city has been engaged in a planning process, funded through a grant from Caltrans, considering ways to make the downtown more vibrant, safer and friendlier to bicyclists and pedestrians.
Several thoroughfares in Sebastopol’s downtown were converted to one-way traffic in the 1980s. Both the City Council and Planning Commission have voted in favor of reverting to two-way vehicle traffic through downtown Sebastopol, following a consultant’s presentation of several options for improvements to the area.
Per the grant requirements, the plan must include protected bike lanes or Class I trails as part of the design, which SCBC supports. However, Sebastopol’s downtown streets are not wide enough to include two-way traffic, sidewalks and protected bike lanes on every stretch, meaning that some trade-offs have been presented.
The current option favored by city officials involves putting all bike traffic on a two-way cycletrack on Petaluma Avenue, and removing bike facilities from Main Street. SCBC has voiced concerns about this arrangement at several public meetings – not only do two-way cycletracks present serious design challenges at entry and exit, this plan also removes bicycle access to Main Street and its businesses.
At a meeting in March, the City Council asked the consultants to consider including bike facilities on Main Street. An updated plan is expected to come before the Planning Commission in April and the City Council in May.
From SCBC’s perspective, the simplest plan for bike access would be to keep the streets one-way and install protected bike lanes and improve intersection safety throughout downtown. Cars and bikes would travel in the same direction, and would have access to the same streets and businesses. Bikes would be visible and their movements would be predictable to drivers.
However, SCBC appreciates that two-way vehicle traffic would help slow car speeds and create safer streets. Given this, we ask the city and its consultants to ensure that any cycletracks are carefully designed, and agree wholeheartedly that bike facilities should be included on Main Street to maintain bicycle access.