City Manager’s Update for February 24, 2025

Posted on February 24, 2025

Artist, Jonny Hirschmugl, painting a mural on the Lynch Creek trail

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ PARA ESPAÑOL

 

 

Hello Petaluma 🌟,

With February well underway, your City staff are preparing our FY2025-26 Budget to guide our next fiscal year. We are guided by the Goals & Priorities of our City Council as well as necessary capital projects (like major improvements to our wastewater system) that keep our city running.

With future projects on our mind, we wanted to give residents a mid-year recap on what we accomplished for the community in 2024. The last year was huge for our City, with progress made on many important projects across every department. Thanks to the funding provided by the voter-approved Measure U sales tax, your local government staff have been able to repair roads across town, replace the turning basin docks on the Petaluma River, plan a new Skatepark, launch free bus AND rideshare transit, and invest in our Fairgrounds for the benefit of our whole community.

While there is always more to be done, every member of our Petaluma team has been working hard to serve you and deliver the results you expect from your full-service City. We are excited to continue these projects and more in 2025 to help make Petaluma a place where all our residents can thrive.

Below you’ll find a report on some of the major projects that we completed or made progress on in 2024. In the year to come, we’ll continue to share information on these projects and many others that are on the horizon. You can watch a video of the City Council’s Feb. 10 Goals & Priorities Workshop at the link HERE to learn more about how we work and what’s coming down the pipeline in 2025-26.

Thank you, Petaluma, for everything you do to make our City the welcoming, creative, engaged, and dynamic community that we are honored and blessed to call home.

In your service,
Peggy Flynn
City Manager 

 

 

Major Infrastructure Investments

The backbone of any thriving community is its infrastructure. From the roads we drive on to the water systems that serve our homes to the parks where our families gather and play — each of these critical elements shapes the quality of life for our residents.

In 2024, the City was able to make significant investments across our community thanks to the funding provided by Measure U, Petaluma’s voter-approved sales tax. Capital improvement projects (upgrades to city-owned infrastructure) account for $57 million in our fiscal year 2024-2025 budget. We are using these investments to improve physical spaces across Petaluma, with the goal of improving our residents’ lives.

Capital projects like those below are NOT included in the City Council’s Goals & Priorities, so the crucial work below moves forward regardless of electoral politics. Some crucial capital projects from 2024 include: 

In addition to making driving easier across the City, Petaluma has also increased accessibility through our public transit system. 

  • In February 2024, construction started on the new Petaluma North Station, expanding SMART service to Petaluma’s east side. The station was completed in January 2025 and now open to riders.
  • Starting June 2024, the Petaluma Transit bus system became FREE for all riders.
  • In Fall 2024, we launched Luma Go, a new free on-demand rideshare program.

This large slate of projects is made possible through a range of funding sources. Measure U funds have been crucial in allowing staff to address a backlog of needed improvements, but they also help draw major outside investments to Petaluma. When voters agreed to invest in Petaluma, it inspired our County, State, and Federal governments to invest in us too. Petaluma has received over $100 million in grant funding, secured by the City and leveraged by Measure U, in the last two years!

 

 

Petaluma Fairgrounds

Since taking over management of the community-owned fairgrounds, City staff have been hard at work revitalizing the property, supporting cherished events like the annual fair and music festival, and expanding community access through public art and diverse programming.  

Property Improvements  

  • Building repairs, including plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, and appliance upgrades
  • Road striping and new wayfinding signage  

Events and Programming  

  • Annual Sonoma-Marin Fair and music festival
  • Community programming such as wrestling, ballet folklórico, Harvest Beats, cycling classes, judo, line dancing, and cooking workshops
  • Seasonal attractions like Luma Ice, Petaluma’s first real ice outdoor skating rink 

Public Art Installations  

  • The True Heart of Petaluma: Ode to the Fairgrounds #1: This 120-foot photo mural by local artist Michael Garlington celebrates the Fairgrounds’ central role in Petaluma’s history and features portraits of 118 Petalumans with ties to this beloved space.
  • Naga: After wowing crowds at Burning Man, this whimsical large-scale sculpture is being hosted at the Fairgrounds while its creator, Cjay, and her team prepare it for its new home in Golden Gate Park. Petaluma is proud to display this unique artwork in the meantime.  

This year, we are thrilled to be partnering with the 4th District Agricultural Association on this year’s Fair, happening June 19-22, 2025! Click HERE to read the full report on our Fairgrounds improvements or rent a space at the Fairgrounds for your next event.

 

 

Reinvigorating Lynch Creek Trail—Petaluma’s multimodal crosstown connector

We’re excited to give you all an update on our improvements to the Lynch Creek Trail! 

The 2.5-mile trail, which runs along Petaluma River and Lynch Creek from downtown to Prince Park, needed some serious love and attention. So far, we’ve: 

  • Upgraded unpaved sections of trail to concrete from Lakeville Street to Edith Street and Payran Street to Lynch Creek to improve accessibility for all trail users.
  • Increased police patrols of the trail.
  • Completed trail maintenance work, including pavement maintenance, improving drainage, and cutting back vegetation to improve sight lines.
  • Added trash cans and doggie clean-up stations along the trail.
  • Removed bollards (metal posts) to improve trail access for people riding bikes or using other wheeled devices.
  • Held a volunteer trail clean-up day in partnership with Rebuilding Together.
  • Enlisted Rebuilding Together to perform graffiti abatement along the trail.
  • Installed David Best’s River Arch at Lakeville Street.
  • Artist Jonny Hirschugl has begun creating 3 murals on the walls of the passage under Highway 101 and the nearby ramp at Payran Street. The murals will feature birds and nature along the trail. Youth volunteers will be assisting the artist in return for service hours.  

Our work is not yet complete! In 2025/26, we plan to install a concrete trail along the final unpaved section between Edith Street and Payran Street, a paved and accessible entrance to the trail at Payran Street, and replace cracked pavement between the Lynch Creek/Petaluma River confluence and N. McDowell Boulevard. Our team is also working on lighting and wayfinding improvements. We are so happy to make this trail a beautiful, accessible, and fun way to get across town. 

 

 

Downtown

Our downtown is the heart of Petaluma—a vibrant mix of history, charm, and community. By keeping our downtown beautiful, welcoming, and safe, we make life better for our residents and support our economy by making our City a destination for visitors who want to eat, play, and spend in Petaluma. 

City staff worked on several projects to support our downtown in 2024:  

  • Repairing the dock and dredging the turning basin
  • Making ADA improvements for safer sidewalks and crosswalks
  • Fixing and replacing tree grates
  • Adding more holiday lighting to enhance the festive spirit
  • Sponsoring beloved events like Butter & Egg Days Parade, Antique Faires, Art & Garden, the Lighted Boat Parade, and Santa’s Riverboat Revival
  • Installing new trash and recycling receptacles
  • Upgrading Keller Street Garage with maintenance, improved lighting, and enhanced security 

Also, while it’s not technically part of our Downtown, we would like to highlight our continued partnership with Café Puente and our support of their mission to cultivate a Spanish-language, multicultural hub where Latin cultures are celebrated, and everyone is welcome. We commend Café Puente for their exceptional programming and for helping to create this hub and haven for Petaluma’s Latinx community. 

 

 

Planning for the Future 

Your City staff juggle the day-to-day responsibilities of serving our community with long-term goal-setting and strategy. 2024 saw the adoption of several citywide Plans that will guide our actions in the years to come. Read more at the links below: 

In 2025, we will continue community outreach around our General Plan 2045, which will set the vision for the next twenty years in Petaluma. You can learn more at planpetaluma.org.  

 

 

Looking ahead to 2025

The coming year looks to be just as busy as the last! You can expect: 

Want to stay up-to-date on all our 2025 projects? Visit our website at cityofpetaluma.org/subscribe to sign up for specific project updates and find other ways of staying informed.  

Thank you, Petaluma, everything you do to make our city the best that it can be. Your city staff is so grateful to be in community with you!

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