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Downtown 'reimagining' study funded by Caltrans grant aims to prioritize safety, with public workshops set
Summary
A Caltrans sustainable transportation grant will fund a study to redesign Sebastopol's downtown core for multimodal safety and vitality; consultants will develop alternatives, model regional traffic impacts, and seek public input at a Nov. 14 workshop. Implementation is expected in staged capital projects over several years.
The Planning Commission received an update on a Caltrans‑funded downtown sustainable transportation study on Oct. 22 that will evaluate alternatives to improve safety, access and multimodal circulation in downtown Sebastopol.
Jeff Rubendahl of Fair and Piers, project manager for the study, said the city received a Caltrans Sustainable Transportation grant (Sebastopol Main Street State Highway Subregional Planning and Core Redesign) with an award of $230,178 and a local match of $29,822 (total about $260,000). "This is not a bike project. This is an all people project," Rubendahl said, emphasizing the study’s focus on walking, biking, transit and freight access through Caltrans‑owned corridors.
Scope and methods: The study focuses on Caltrans roadways through downtown, will assemble a technical agency working group (police, fire, Caltrans, SCTA, City of Santa Rosa and others), and will develop 2–3 alternatives with planning‑level cost estimates. The team will model operations and regional routing to assess how proposed downtown changes might reroute cut‑through traffic and affect travel times. The work will also consider Caltrans’s updated complete‑streets guidance and where protected bike facilities or class 1 trails are appropriate.
Public engagement and schedule: The project website and survey are live and the consultant said a workshop/open house is planned for Thursday, Nov. 14 (3–7 p.m.). The grant schedule runs through 2025; consultants expect to return with alternatives in the spring and summer and to finalize the study by late 2025.
Funding and implementation realities: Rubendahl said the ultimate capital investment to build a preferred alternative will likely be large and staged over many years, funded through a mix of grants and maintenance projects. "You'd have to have a very large bake sale," he said, describing the need to sequence projects and pursue multiple funding sources rather than expecting a single grant to deliver a full build-out.
Questions from commissioners focused on Caltrans’ role and what the city can implement within Caltrans rights‑of‑way; consultants said Caltrans’ current guidance gives cities more room to pursue lower lane widths and protected facilities but stressed that changes will follow Caltrans processes and environmental review where required. The study will evaluate alternatives that preserve certain grant conditions (for example, one evaluated alternative must not reduce downtown level of service to meet grant terms).
Next steps: Staff and consultants encouraged residents to review materials on the project website and attend the Nov. 14 open house; the team will incorporate feedback into alternatives and follow up with technical agency coordination and additional community engagement over the coming year.
