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Study to outline improvements to Highway 29
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CommentTransportation planners from Napa and Solano counties may collaborate on a new study of the Highway 29 corridor from Napa through Vallejo to reduce gridlock and improve the look of the highway.
The study, which would evaluate traffic congestion, aesthetics guidelines and public transit availability, would serve as a blueprint for the corridor, the gateway to the Napa Valley. While there have been studies done over the years on Highway 29, none have been comprehensive, Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd said Thursday.
The study, which would evaluate traffic congestion, aesthetics guidelines and public transit availability, would serve as a blueprint for the corridor, the gateway to the Napa Valley. While there have been studies done over the years on Highway 29, none have been comprehensive, Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd said Thursday.
On Thursday, Dodd invited three-dozen officials from Napa, American Canyon and Solano County, business leaders and others to brainstorm ideas on how to reach a consensus on what should be done. In the end of the meeting, Dodd said everybody feels there is a need for the study.
Dodd, who chairs the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the planning agency for roads and transit for the Bay Area, including Napa and Solano counties, said he came to the meeting with no preconceived plan or concept. All the group wanted was to define common objectives, Dodd said.
Dodd, who chairs the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the planning agency for roads and transit for the Bay Area, including Napa and Solano counties, said he came to the meeting with no preconceived plan or concept. All the group wanted was to define common objectives, Dodd said.
“We had to start somewhere,” said Dodd, who chairs the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the planning agency for roads and transit for the Bay Area, including Napa and Solano counties.
Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency and the Solano Transportation Authority officials said a partnership between the two agencies improve the odds of obtaining planning grants from Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency and the Solano Transportation Authority officials said a partnership between the two agencies improve the odds of obtaining planning grants from Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
A study could cost between $250,000 and $500,000, Dodd said.
Among the guests were transportation planners from Napa and Solano counties as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans; Napa Mayor Jill Techel and American Canyon Mayor Leon Garcia; Board of Supervisor Chairman Brad Wagenknecht; representatives from the wine industry, and others, including Terry McGrath — the developer of the Town Center, a development of about 200 acres in American Canyon.
Napa Councilman Jim Krider, one of the attendees, said the idea to have comprehensive study is worth exploring.
Traffic congestion along the corridor, he said, is a “quality of life issue.”
“I think it’s smart planning to involve more than one agency.”
American Canyon City Manager Rich Ramirez also struck a positive note, noting that 65 percent of all cars and truck traveling on Highway 29 is pass-thru traffic.
“We got the ball rolling here,” he said.
Keith Caldwell, the former American Canyon fire chief who is running for supervisor in District 5, came uninvited.
On Friday, Caldwell said congestion issues won’t be resolved without a realistic public transportation system that would include express bus routes, van pools and commuter incentives, and workforce housing enabling people to live closer to their workplace.
Carl Kravitt, a director at Hess Collection, said his company wants to encourage public transportation, along with socially responsible land-use that would get cars off the road.
Daryl Halls, executive director of the Solano Transportation Authority in Suisun, and Diana Vargas, deputy director of the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency, said their agencies will inventory the studies that have already been done, saying there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Vargas, who said a scope of what needs to be studied could be prepared in about four to five weeks, said there will be short-term and long-term goals.
Ramirez said that American Canyon is about to release a circulation plan for Highway 29 and city streets early November.
Referring to the cooperation between Napa and Solano county, Robert Macauley, planning director with the Solano Transportation Authority, said the public does not care if a road is in Solano or Napa.
“They care how the road works,” he said.
Among the guests were transportation planners from Napa and Solano counties as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans; Napa Mayor Jill Techel and American Canyon Mayor Leon Garcia; Board of Supervisor Chairman Brad Wagenknecht; representatives from the wine industry, and others, including Terry McGrath — the developer of the Town Center, a development of about 200 acres in American Canyon.
Napa Councilman Jim Krider, one of the attendees, said the idea to have comprehensive study is worth exploring.
Traffic congestion along the corridor, he said, is a “quality of life issue.”
“I think it’s smart planning to involve more than one agency.”
American Canyon City Manager Rich Ramirez also struck a positive note, noting that 65 percent of all cars and truck traveling on Highway 29 is pass-thru traffic.
“We got the ball rolling here,” he said.
Keith Caldwell, the former American Canyon fire chief who is running for supervisor in District 5, came uninvited.
On Friday, Caldwell said congestion issues won’t be resolved without a realistic public transportation system that would include express bus routes, van pools and commuter incentives, and workforce housing enabling people to live closer to their workplace.
Carl Kravitt, a director at Hess Collection, said his company wants to encourage public transportation, along with socially responsible land-use that would get cars off the road.
Daryl Halls, executive director of the Solano Transportation Authority in Suisun, and Diana Vargas, deputy director of the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency, said their agencies will inventory the studies that have already been done, saying there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Vargas, who said a scope of what needs to be studied could be prepared in about four to five weeks, said there will be short-term and long-term goals.
Ramirez said that American Canyon is about to release a circulation plan for Highway 29 and city streets early November.
Referring to the cooperation between Napa and Solano county, Robert Macauley, planning director with the Solano Transportation Authority, said the public does not care if a road is in Solano or Napa.
“They care how the road works,” he said.
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missmarvelous wrote on Oct 12, 2008 8:22 AM:
musikluvr wrote on Oct 12, 2008 12:24 PM:
I wonder just how much the "studies" for his derailed transportation tax cost taxpayers recently.
This is our "representative" to the Board of Supervisors whose expertise and his focus apparently is mainly his charimanship to the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
This is our "representative" who, in an article 2 days ago, had to obtain a mediatior at a cost of $42,000 just to discuss housing with the city of Napa.
Fortunately we have someone managing business at home. The NCTPA staff will dust off some old studies and use them and try to save us some taxpayer dollars. "
elb wrote on Oct 12, 2008 8:34 PM:
I remember walking into that Cal Trans trailer on the corner when that project was complete. I had been sitting through three sets of lights with only a couple cars in front of me. We were all trying to turn left onto the new Trancas overpass. It seemed that none of us Southbound on Solano could even find our way into the intersection, let alone through it.
Since I was stuck and the Cal Trans trailer was there, I hooked a left and paid them a visit.
I asked, "Who's in charge of this operation?" I was directed to a gentleman sitting at a desk. He was having a meeting with several other fellows wearing casual slacks and oxford shirts with rolled sleeves.
I asked this man, "Does it require a degree of some kind to draw up plans and actually engineer these sorts of projects we have going on out here?" [I pointed outside the trailer]
He nodded, "Yes" tucking his chin a bit, wondering where I was headed with my inquiry.
I asked again, "And those lights... Who does the math? Does it take some degree of intelligence to calculate their timing?
He smiled with a slight raise of his brow and answered, "Yes."
I was now happy to oblige his obvious curiosity; "Well, if THIS mess outside your door is what college degrees and six-figure incomes gets the citizens of Napa, then I'd say we just got taken for the ride of the century, because that my friends is a DISASTER out there!"
This is when I found out the studies used were ten years old. "
John C wrote on Oct 12, 2008 8:45 PM:
www.publictransit.us/ptlibrary/specialreports/sr10.forecastnapasolanorail.pdf "
Paddy wrote on Oct 12, 2008 10:26 PM:
musikluvr wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:41 AM:
To elb: Our local transportation authorities, (Bill Dodd) were responsible for the planning, the completion and the huge cost overruns of the Trancas overpass. "
Bill Dodd wrote on Oct 14, 2008 4:40 PM:
I did not take rail out of the last sales tax measure, it was taken out by a committee who looked at a poll that determined that way more than a majority did not want it at the time.
Also the $250-500K number for the Hwy 29 study is a number given by Caltrans, not me. The idea is that we would get a State and Regional grant to pay for the study.
If that doesn't sound good to Musikluvr, I'll bet some other County will take the money.
Bill Dodd
Napa County Supervisor "