Old Redwood Highway Improvement Project
Location
North of Windsor River Road
City or County Responsible for Project
Town of Windsor, Sonoma County
Category
Complete Streets Projects
Author
Carl L. Euphrat
Town of Windsor, Department of Public Works
9291 Old Redwood Highway, P.O. Box 100, Windsor, CA 95492
707-838-1195
707-838-3137
Project Description
The Old Redwood Highway Improvement Project (“the Project”) was initiated by a private commercial and residential development project named Bell Village (BV). The developer of BV is Oakmont Senior Living (OSL). The projects developed by OSL are extremely well received and they spare no expense in design and construction. Therefore, development of Old Redwood Highway (ORH) became a well received collaboration with OSL. The Project was a model of a successful Public-Private partnership for a project to benefit the greater local community. OSL agreed to improve the entire width of ORH for the full length of the Project. In return, the Town of Windsor would reimburse OSL for the non-project side of the ORH improvements in the form of development impact fee credits. Since the project was funded by a private developer it is believed that there was a substantial cost savings to the Town of Windsor since the developer was able to benefit from his relationship with the local construction community and secure lower, but reasonable, unit prices for all the infrastructure. Prior to the Project, ORH consisted of a two-lane road with no sidewalks, intermittent or discontinuous bike lanes, minimal streetlighting and no marked street crossings at intersections. The Town of Windsor Complete Streets Design Guidelines were used to guide the design. Following completion of the Project, ORH is still two lanes, but now also includes green bike lanes, extra wide sidewalks, two new roundabout-controlled intersections, LED streetlights, reverse angle parking, elevated walkways to protect the root structure of some of the major Oak trees, CUDO storm drain units and two pedestrian activated Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon warning systems at crosswalks. These innovative features significantly improve safety and access for the pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles. Oliver’s Market is the anchor of BV and the first full-service market on the west side of the Town. There are two major chain supermarkets on the east side of Town. Up to the time that BV was developed, any resident on the west side of Town needing the services of a supermarket has had to travel to the east side of Town. Depending on the time of day, this crosstown traffic could create congestion on ORH. Since the opening of Oliver’s Market, residents on the west side of town can either walk to the grocery store or drive a shorter distance. This is likely the primary reason that traffic volumes have decreased substantially since the project was completed. This environmental benefit of decreased trip traffic is expected to continue for years to come. The reduction in traffic volumes has already been measured and the reduction in traffic speeds, while currently only observed, are also measureable. Complete Streets projects are undertaken to increase active transportation mode travel. Windsor believes the Project achieves this goal which will benefit the public for many years to come.
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