Barry
04-02-2010, 05:26 PM
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New road signs in Sebastopol?
By BOB NORBERG ([email protected])
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Friday, April 2, 2010 at 1:41 p.m.
Sebastopol, where Main Street is a state highway traveled by 14,000 motorists a day, wants to erect dozens of new directional signs to help people get around town.
“The circulation pattern can be confusing with all the one-way streets, particularly for visitors from out of town,” said planning director Kenyon Webster. “We want to direct people and help them find their way to key destinations in town or even if they want to get through town.”
Sebastopol's declaration that it is a “Nuclear Free Zone,” a mantle the iconically free-thinking city has worn proudly for 25 years, could be lost under one proposal for new signs at the city's entrances.
Councilman Larry Robinson said it has become part of the community identity, however, and losing it would be a shame.
“If you don't understand the history, it just seems quirky and off the wall, but when you understand what was happening in the mid 1980s and the whole nuclear free movement, it makes sense, and it is important to preserve that,” Robinson said.
Sebastopol, a city of 7,800, sits at the intersection of highways 12 and 116, major routes to the Russian River and the Sonoma Coast.
It is also the commercial center of an area that includes Graton, Forestville, Occidental, Camp Meeker, Freestone, Bodega and Bodega Bay, with an many as 50,000 residents, Webster said.
“If the only traffic that happened within Sebastopol was generated within the city limits, the streets would be very quiet,” Webster said. “The traffic is generated from around Sebastopol.”
The two main thoroughfares, Main Street and Petaluma Avenue, are one way and can be confusing to motorists.
“If they get in the wrong lane, they get to somewhere they don't want to go,” Webster said.
The proposal is to replace the existing mishmash of directional signs with a standardized design, signs colored three shades of green and blue-green so motorists know what to look for.
“What I hear from business owners is their clients have trouble finding them,” said Mayor Sarah Gurney. “People from out of town don't know where the key locations are. The signing will help.”
The signs would point to community locations, such as parking lots, Ives Pool, City Hall, the city library, Ragle Park, Analy High School, the Town Plaza, the Arts Center, Skategarden Park, the police department, Burbank Farm and the Veterans Memorial Building.
There would also be arrows directing traffic through Sebastopol to Bodega Bay, the Russian River, Cotati, Graton and Santa Rosa.
“People in Forestville, Graton and Bodega Bay don't always come through town for their business or where they are headed, but they often do,” Webster said. “We benefit economically, but there is a price to pay.”
Along with the 48 directional signs would be two kiosks, located at the parking lots at the Town Plaza and at Burnett Street and Main Street, with maps of the city.
Webster said the City Council is being asked to approve seeking bids on the directional signs, which could cost about $50,000.
Separately, the City Council will be shown designs for the gateway signs that would be placed at the entrances.
The signs have a similar design and color scheme and could cost from $76,500 to $120,000, depending on materials.
One simply says Sebastopol. A second includes the slogan “Local Flavor, Global Vision,” from a Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce branding project.
A third includes a panel that says Home of the Analy Tigers, has a list of the Sister Cities and the phrase “Nuclear Free Zone.”
The Nuclear Free Zone designation is part of the city's municipal code, adopted in 1985 during an international movement meant to get such declarations proclaimed worldwide.
“It is not particularly relevant today, but it is an important part of Sebastopol history, and it is important to maintain,” Robinson said.
The meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Sebastopol Youth Annex.
Copyright © 2010 PressDemocrat.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.
New road signs in Sebastopol?
By BOB NORBERG ([email protected])
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Friday, April 2, 2010 at 1:41 p.m.
Sebastopol, where Main Street is a state highway traveled by 14,000 motorists a day, wants to erect dozens of new directional signs to help people get around town.
“The circulation pattern can be confusing with all the one-way streets, particularly for visitors from out of town,” said planning director Kenyon Webster. “We want to direct people and help them find their way to key destinations in town or even if they want to get through town.”
Sebastopol's declaration that it is a “Nuclear Free Zone,” a mantle the iconically free-thinking city has worn proudly for 25 years, could be lost under one proposal for new signs at the city's entrances.
Councilman Larry Robinson said it has become part of the community identity, however, and losing it would be a shame.
“If you don't understand the history, it just seems quirky and off the wall, but when you understand what was happening in the mid 1980s and the whole nuclear free movement, it makes sense, and it is important to preserve that,” Robinson said.
Sebastopol, a city of 7,800, sits at the intersection of highways 12 and 116, major routes to the Russian River and the Sonoma Coast.
It is also the commercial center of an area that includes Graton, Forestville, Occidental, Camp Meeker, Freestone, Bodega and Bodega Bay, with an many as 50,000 residents, Webster said.
“If the only traffic that happened within Sebastopol was generated within the city limits, the streets would be very quiet,” Webster said. “The traffic is generated from around Sebastopol.”
The two main thoroughfares, Main Street and Petaluma Avenue, are one way and can be confusing to motorists.
“If they get in the wrong lane, they get to somewhere they don't want to go,” Webster said.
The proposal is to replace the existing mishmash of directional signs with a standardized design, signs colored three shades of green and blue-green so motorists know what to look for.
“What I hear from business owners is their clients have trouble finding them,” said Mayor Sarah Gurney. “People from out of town don't know where the key locations are. The signing will help.”
The signs would point to community locations, such as parking lots, Ives Pool, City Hall, the city library, Ragle Park, Analy High School, the Town Plaza, the Arts Center, Skategarden Park, the police department, Burbank Farm and the Veterans Memorial Building.
There would also be arrows directing traffic through Sebastopol to Bodega Bay, the Russian River, Cotati, Graton and Santa Rosa.
“People in Forestville, Graton and Bodega Bay don't always come through town for their business or where they are headed, but they often do,” Webster said. “We benefit economically, but there is a price to pay.”
Along with the 48 directional signs would be two kiosks, located at the parking lots at the Town Plaza and at Burnett Street and Main Street, with maps of the city.
Webster said the City Council is being asked to approve seeking bids on the directional signs, which could cost about $50,000.
Separately, the City Council will be shown designs for the gateway signs that would be placed at the entrances.
The signs have a similar design and color scheme and could cost from $76,500 to $120,000, depending on materials.
One simply says Sebastopol. A second includes the slogan “Local Flavor, Global Vision,” from a Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce branding project.
A third includes a panel that says Home of the Analy Tigers, has a list of the Sister Cities and the phrase “Nuclear Free Zone.”
The Nuclear Free Zone designation is part of the city's municipal code, adopted in 1985 during an international movement meant to get such declarations proclaimed worldwide.
“It is not particularly relevant today, but it is an important part of Sebastopol history, and it is important to maintain,” Robinson said.
The meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Sebastopol Youth Annex.
Copyright © 2010 PressDemocrat.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.