Officials Celebrate Completion Of US 101 Petaluma Widening Project

August 05, 2022

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Caltrans and the Sonoma County Transportation Authority held a ribbon-cutting Friday to celebrate the completion of the Petaluma Widening Project that adds carpool lanes to a four-mile stretch of Highway 101 between Lakeville Highway and Old Redwood Highway in Sonoma County, Caltrans announced in a news release.

Attending the celebration Friday were U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman, California State Senator Mike McGuire, Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett, Caltrans Director Tony Tavares, SCTA Executive Director Suzanne Smith, and Tim Salles of Ghilotti Construction Company.

"Completing the Sonoma portion of the Marin-Sonoma Narrows Project will benefit the residents of Petaluma and the greater Bay Area," said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. "Our continuing strong partnership with SCTA has helped make this project possible."

caltrans tweet

The three-year, $122-million project included $85 million in funding from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, and $37 million in funding from Sonoma County's Measure M.

The Petaluma Widening Project is one of 12 widening projects in the larger Marin-Sonoma Narrows — MSN— Project to add carpool lanes between Novato in Marin County and Petaluma in Sonoma County.

The Marin-Sonoma Narrows Project is often referred to as a "gap closure" project, as it closes a 17-mile gap in the Highway 101 carpool lanes between Novato and Petaluma.

The Petaluma Widening Project is the northernmost of the MSN projects connecting a four-mile stretch of carpool lanes between the Marin-Sonoma border and Lakeville Highway and a 22-mile section of carpool lanes between Old Redwood Highway and downtown Windsor. Closing this gap creates 30-mile carpool lanes in each direction.

"This final piece of Hwy 101 improvements in Sonoma County caps a two-decade effort to complete carpool lanes from Petaluma to Windsor," said Suzanne Smith, executive director of Sonoma County Transportation Authority.

"Thanks to voters who approved local funds, as well as our partners in the Bay Area, the State, and Washington DC, we now have reliable and improved infrastructure that will support the movement of people and goods," Smith said. "The Petaluma Widening Project completes a $1.2 billion Sonoma County plan for Highway 101 between Petaluma and Windsor to boost transit and carpool use, improve highway safety and traffic operations at interchanges, and support evacuations during emergencies."

 

 


By:  Maggie Fusek
Source: Patch Petaluma