Grove Design Falls Short
The design of the Grove Street Neighborhood Plan complete streets project was on the Healdsburg City Council agenda on 8/19/2024. The Council largely accepted the design as presented – and active transportation advocates are disappointed.
First of all, separated bike lanes are only foreseen for a short segment of the road in order to provide public parking spaces for cars. While walking infrastructure has been prioritized, cycling infrastructure has not. The final design will require cyclists to “share” the roadway with motor vehicles on a street where the traffic currently flows at over 30 mph. This is a much less safe design than separated bike lanes.
Secondly, participants at the last community meeting on the project (March 2024) had been told that the roadway would be transformed into a “bike boulevard” with a maximum speed of 20 mph, but the speed limit will remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. Mayor Hagele stated that Council will take the reduction of the speed limit to 20 mph or less “very seriously”, but there is no certainty regarding if and when this will actually happen.
One important win for active transportation advocates was that dedicated bike lanes connecting Dry Creek Road to the Foss Creek Pathway will be built and painted green to provide safe passage for less experienced cyclists using that route, thanks to resident input beginning with the March 2024 community meeting.
A lack of safe streets is a key deterrent to more cycling, and Healdsburg’s Climate Mobilization Strategy calls for shifting car trips to safe active transportation by 2030. The CMS specifically lists the Grove Street Project as an immediate opportunity, one that apparently will only be partially capitalized on. Many forget that personal vehicle trips of less than 2 miles are responsible for at least 40% of transportation emissions in Healdsburg.
Move! Healdsburg will continue advocating for a much greater investment in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure to ensure safe streets and a greater share of active modes of transportation.
The City Council is expected to formally approve the final project design in January 2025, with construction to begin in the Summer of 2025.
While not as inclusive as hoped, the plans nevertheless will bring significant improvements from an active transportation perspective. The complete street concept includes sidewalks and landscaping on both sides of the road, additional crosswalks, traffic calming design features, prominent street markings indicating that cyclists can use the whole roadway, and bike boxes at the Dry Creek Intersection.