Sonoma County Bi-Monthly Caltrans Update
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Welcome to the March 2025 edition of the Caltrans Sonoma County Newsletter, where we discuss upcoming and ongoing Caltrans projects in Sonoma County. We aim to keep you informed!
Caltrans Installs 120-foot Girders to Span Freeway for the Hearn Avenue Overcrossing Project in Santa Rosa
Workers building the retaining wall on the east side of the freeway
Highway 101 was closed at Hearn Avenue in Santa Rosa for two nights in mid-February, allowing workers operating a 550-ton crane to hoist 120-foot girders and set them into place.
The girders will support the new Hearn Avenue overcrossing, the central element of the project that has been under construction since March 2024.
During the project, the existing overcrossing, which has one lane in each direction and a single sidewalk, will be replaced with two traffic lanes in each direction, two bicycle lanes per direction, and two standard sidewalks on each side.
To this point, Caltrans has been building retaining walls, abutments and columns, things that will support the new four-lane overpass. Impressive large-scale construction, but after Caltrans places the girders, the project will take on the unmistakable appearance of a large freeway overcrossing being constructed.
With its bicycle lanes and new sidewalks, the Hearn Avenue project is an example of Caltrans’ Complete Streets Program, which adds multimodal upgrades to new projects when feasible.
The project is a partnership between Caltrans, the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, and the City of Santa Rosa. For more information go to US 101/Hearn Avenue Regional Multimodal Interchange | Caltrans
120-foot girders will be placed on columns in the center median and on the abutment on each side of the freeway.
Retaining wall on west side adjacent to the Santa Rosa DMV
701 Culverts Drain Hwy 1 between Jenner and Gualala, Keeping Road Open During Wet Winters
Keeping traffic lanes viable on Highway 1 on the northern Sonoma coast may seem like an everlasting commitment that requires appraisal and reappraisal at the beginning and end of every rainy season.
A new culvert is being installed on Hwy 1 in northern Sonoma County, augmenting the smaller culverts that drain the slope.
Heavy winter rainstorms create runoff, which can cause mud and rockslides to tumble onto the road. But a more significant problem is water seeping into the soil and running underground, eroding the highway from below. The road's underpinning would be in constant jeopardy if it weren't for the many culverts crossing beneath the highway.
A culvert is a structure that carries water beneath a road to prevent erosion. In most cases, culverts are metal drainpipes of varying sizes. But sometimes, culverts can be concrete, primarily where creeks are channeled beneath a highway.
A new culvert is being installed on Hwy 1 in northern Sonoma County, augmenting the smaller culverts that drain the slope.
Two things we know about water are that it travels downhill and seeks the path of least resistance. Hydrologists use that knowledge to analyze topography, finding the natural course of subsurface water. Eventually, workers install a pipe, pointed downhill in a location where it—and perhaps its feeder pipes—will gather the most water and expedite it downslope where it won't harm the road. In the case of Highway 1, that place is usually the Pacific Ocean.
From a highway maintenance standpoint, Highway 1 is a tough place to have a road. But such a place lacks the beauty and vitality of the coast, a place where people want to live, work, and vacation.
The Caltrans Maintenance and Hydrology Departments have created a database of state highway culverts. The list is impressive but not exhaustive, as much of the road was inherited from local agencies that built it in the early-to-mid 20th Century.Not all culverts can be found on plans but must be located in the field. For example, on Highway 1 between Jenner and the Mendocino County line, Caltrans has compiled a list of 701 culverts. It's a lot to maintain, which is why Caltrans created the database, which color-codes existing culverts according to their service level: blue, green, and red for excellent, good, and needs repair.
With better data, Caltrans has made a list of worn and worn-out culverts and uses the list to develop repair projects prioritizing locations in greatest need of repair. The database required extensive research and time to produce. But it was time well spent. Now more decisions can be made in the office, reducing the capital outlay and time-consuming fieldwork.
While culverts will inevitably deteriorate due to rust, blockages, or the relentless movement of the coast side earth, the availability of information at our fingertips now allows us to make significant progress in maintaining Highway 1.
Route 116 Emergency Slide Repair Project west of Guerneville
A series of rainstorms in late December caused a slip-out beneath the eastbound shoulder of State Route 116, about a mile west of Guerneville, where the highway hugs the Russian River.
The erosion undercut two tall trees that toppled into the river, and the eroded roadbed revealed two sewer lines, one of which is a forced sewer line that serves the larger community and must be handled with great caution, given the proximity to the river.
The collapse of 100 feet of roadbed along the highway’s shoulder would only be a taste of things to come unless Caltrans urgently addressed the precarious situation. With that in mind, Caltrans Bay Area applied for emergency funding to shore up the road. Permission was granted, and soon, workers were onsite, drilling piles into the embarkment, the first step in building a temporary retaining wall.
The proximity to the river makes for tight working quarters, which can prolong the project. But if everything goes as planned, Caltrans will finish the temporary retaining wall by the first two weeks of April. Route 116 Emergency Slide Repair Project west of Guerneville
Caltrans will create a separate project to build a long-term fix for the area in the months to come.
Setting the PACE: Public Affairs Customer Engagement Site is Now Live!
District 4 is proud to announce the launch of our new Customer Service Request (CSR) platform. PACE, the Public Affairs Customer Engagement site, provides a regularly updated breakdown of services requested and rendered across the district.
- The CSR dashboard aims to provide an overview of the responsiveness to maintenance services requested across the nine Bay Area counties.
- The data represented as month-to-date falls within a rolling 30-day Service Level Agreement (SLA) and is updated weekly.
- We strive to close 60% (or more) of all monthly service requests received via the CSR website portal.
- For more information or to leave comments/suggestions, please contact D4CSLTEAM@dot.ca.gov.
- To report a highway issue/problem, please submit a CSR ticket through the Customer Service Request Form.
The Sonoma County newsletter will be distributed on a bi-monthly schedule.
For 24/7 traffic updates, please visit 511.org or https://twitter.com/511SFBay
For real-time information, please visit Caltrans QuickMap: https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov
CONTACT:
Jeff Weiss
Sonoma County Public Information Officer
General Information
(510) 286-4444
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