5th Street Neighborhood Greenway

Project Description

At the end of 2024, the City of Petaluma installed the 5th Street Neighborhood Greenway between Western Avenue and Mountain View Avenue. The project, which was approved unanimously by City Council on April 8, 2024, aims to reinforce 5th Street as a safe and inviting corridor for people walking, bicycling, and rolling.

Improvements include:

• Painted curb extensions near intersections to improve visibility, slow traffic, and shorten crossing distances
• New crosswalks across 5th Street at C Street and H Street; new crosswalks across I Street at 5th Street; a new crosswalk across Mt. View Avenue at 5th Street
• Traffic circles at G Street and I Street
• Speed cushions between I Street and Mt. View Avenue

Please note: With this project, we will be “daylighting”, marking 15-20 foot sections of red curb adjacent to intersections, in order to improve visibility, as required by California’s New Daylighting Law, AB 413.

The City is committed to creating safer streets and doing so in a way that best suits the needs of our community. As a first-of-its-kind project in Petaluma, the Neighborhood Greenway will be installed using cost-effective and flexible materials that can be adjusted or removed, if necessary. This type of installation (referred to as "quick-build," "pilot," or "demonstration" projects) allows community members to experience and provide feedback on proposed changes before they're made permanent.

Why 5th Street?

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee and several community members identified 5th Street as a potential low-stress bicycling alternative to Petaluma Boulevard South and 6th Street due to lower vehicle traffic volume and speed (and, in comparison to 6th Street, the absence of a hill).

What is a Neighborhood Greenway?

Neighborhood Greenways (also referred to in some cities as "Bike Boulevards") are neighborhood streets with low vehicle traffic volume and speed that are designated and designed to prioritize people travelling by foot, bike, scooter, etc. They do not prohibit vehicle access, but are designed with traffic calming and diversion elements (such as traffic circles, traffic diverters, and speed cushions) that discourage cut through traffic and speeding in order to make the street as safe and appealing as possible for those travelling by foot and bike.

For more information, please visit the National Association of City Transportation Officials' page on Bike Boulevards.

Why Was a Traffic Circle Installed at the G Street and I Street Intersections?

The traffic circles were included to help facilitate safe and slow movement through the 5th Street intersections with G Street and I Street. Traffic circles move traffic safely and efficiently. This is achieved by slowing speeds and reducing conflict points without requiring all vehicles to come to a complete stop. At slower speeds, collisions are less frequent and severe. Without forcing all drivers to come to a complete stop, noise and exhaust are reduced. Design guidance for Neighborhood Greenways discourage stop signs that interrupt the flow of bicycle traffic(in this case along 5th Street) in order to create a more efficient and, therefore, appealing, bicycling experience.

The new traffic circle at 5th and I Street, in particular, should help slow traffic in this area of I Street and improve crossing conditions for people using 5th Street, both of which the City has received several requests to slow traffic on I Street in this area through the Safe Streets Nomination Program and other community engagement efforts.

There have been three reported injury collisions--all “broadside” collisions between two drivers--at this intersection since 2017. According to Federal Highway Administration, replacing a two-way stop (which this intersection was previously) with a roundabout leads to an 82 percent reduction in injury crashes.

Ultimately, the traffic circles will:

1. Improve pedestrian and bicycle crossings of I Street for people using the 5th Street Neighborhood Greenway, and
2. Slow traffic and encourage more cautious and attentive driving on I Street without increasing congestion.

How to Safely Navigate Traffic Circles

People bicycling and driving through traffic circles and roundabouts should follow these steps:

1. Slow down when approaching the traffic circle
2. Yield to any people waiting to cross by foot
3. Yield to any traffic already in or entering the traffic circle, which will always be coming from your left
4. Always use the traffic circle in the counterclockwise direction (staying to the right of the circle), as indicated by signage