People on foot and on bikes will be able to cross U.S. Highway 101 in Santa Rosa by 2026, thanks to $12 million in federal grants awarded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to build an overcrossing.
The amount is more than half of the project’s estimated $21 million in construction costs, city officials said in an announcement of the federal grants.
The city needs to secure an additional $6 million for the project, which could begin as early as October 2023 with a completion date of December 2025.
The project is a 17-foot-wide bicycle and pedestrian shared-use overcrossing spanning Highway 101 at the Elliot-Edwards alignment approved by Caltrans.
City officials said the overcrossing will serve as a connector providing a safer and more comfortable alternative for bicyclists and pedestrians over the freeway, between two high-traffic interchanges at College Avenue and Steele Lane. The project is also a critical link in the east-west bicycle and pedestrian network identified in the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan Update 2018.
Opportunities for community input on the project are planned for this fall. The first, planned for October, will present the overcrossing’s preliminary design to the city’s Design Review Board.
More information on the Highway 101 Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing project is available on the city’s website.