Council passes bike plan

The long-held dream of a bicycle-friendly Sonoma got a little closer to reality Wednesday night, as the City Council unanimously approved nearly a dozen traffic improvements.
Specifically, the Sonoma Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Plan – part of the emerging countywide plan approved in May by the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, and prioritized in June by the city’s Community Services and Environment Commission (CSEC) – calls for bike route signs along Third Street West and Second Street East; striped lanes along West MacArthur Street, Napa Road and the southern part of Fifth Street West; a bike/walk bridge over Fryer Creek; and a Highway 12 crosswalk at the Maxwell Village Shopping Center. (The entire 44-page plan is available at the city’s Web site, http://www.sonomacity.org/uploads/Planning/Draft_Bike_Plan.pdf.)
The council approved the plan in full save for two CSEC-set priority items – a bike lane along the north side of West Spain Street, and bike racks at Sonoma Plaza. The former faces objections from neighbors over the proposed removal of 91 street-parking spaces, and the latter require further study as to exactly where to place them.
Overall, the total cost for improvements is estimated at $278,000, which would be paid for through Sonoma capital-improvement funds. Approval of the plan also opens up the possibility of county, state and federal grant money.