5th Street Neighborhood Greenway

Project Description

In the coming days, the City of Petaluma will begin installing 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 will 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. Neighborhood Greenways do not involve striping designated bike lanes; the expectation is that people travelling by bike may enjoy full use of the roadway (as shown in the photo above) due to low traffic volume and speed.

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