Hwy 101 set to get $67 million fix

Dubbed “The Big Pave,” a new project will be under way in the New Year to permanently fix the 14-mile stretch of Highway 101 between Windsor and Geyserville.
Although construction work on the highway won’t begin until the fall of 2016, in 2015 the engineering will be completed, the environmental reports are expected by late 2015, early 2016, and the project will be officially put out to bid.
“This is the same approach we took with the airport interchange, wanting to make sure commuters, businesses owners and residents are fully in the loop and know ahead of time what to expect about one of the largest construction projects to hit the corridor in the North County in several decades,” said State Senator Mike McGuire.
For the past two years, local transportation officials have been working on a plan to rehabilitate the highway stretch, which has been receiving temporary patchwork by Caltrans for years. Through a partnership between Sonoma County Transit Agency (SCTA) and Caltrans, proponents were able to secure funding for the project through the state Transportation Commission.
“This is considered one of the worst stretches of highway in the North Bay area, and a constant discussion point with north county residents. This $67 million rehabilitation project will be a significant improvement to its current conditions and will be good for residents and businesses alike,” McGuire said.
The project is divided into two segments with segment one starting at Central Windsor to north of Geyserville. The first phase started earlier this year with emergency slab replacement as a temporary fix. This 14-mile stretch will receive permanent repairs both North and Southbound in 2016 during segment two with “The Big Pave.”
The project includes the replacement of cement slabs with pavement overlay, guardrails, extended shoulders, ramp paving and minor drainage enhancements. The highway stretch was originally paved with cement in 1954 and will soon be replaced with asphalt. The crack seat overlay method cracks the existing pavement, compacting it and putting a new asphalt layer, approximately 6.5 inches thick. This type of fix is expected to have a life span of 20 years.
“We will be replacing some of the roadside signs, they need to be updated as they haven’t been for sometime. Some of the overhead signs might need to be raised or replaced, replacing and upgrading metal guardrails to up-to-date-standards,” said Senior Transportation Engineer for Caltrans Betcy Joseph.
Homes and businesses lining both sides of the north county corridor should expect grinding noise, lights and ramp closures during the 24-month construction cycle.
“Long-term, this project is going to have a positive impact on Northern Sonoma County, but short-term during the construction project, north county commuters are going to have some temporary impacts,” McGuire said.
Residents will start seeing construction in the fall of 2016, but they have not determined if Northbound or Southbound will go first. A majority of the work will be done at night.
“This project is unprecedented for a county of our size, this is the largest project in the north bay since the Old Redwood Highway interchange and it’s because of the hard work of Windsor, Healdsburg, Cloverdale and the county of Sonoma as we have been attached at the hip pushing this project forward,” said McGuire.