NVTA shifts course on Highway 29, backs signals over roundabouts in American Canyon
The idea to build roundabouts along Highway 29 in American Canyon may be a concept of the past.
Installing six roundabouts along the 1.5-mile corridor where 45,000 vehicles travel daily may only result in more traffic backups, according to the Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA), the agency that manages transportation projects in Napa County.
At peak hours in the morning more than 3,200 vehicles an hour cross Napa Junction Road’s intersection, where one of the six roundabouts is under consideration, according to NVTA. A three-lane roundabout could only accommodate up to 2,300 vehicles an hour, according to the agency.
By 2050, virtually every intersection would be operating at an unacceptable level of service, Grant Bailey, NVTA engineering manager, told the American Canyon City Council on Feb. 3.
Instead, NVTA’s staff recommended installing a more efficient traffic signal system from Napa Junction Road near City Hall to American Canyon Road, a stretch that now includes five signals. Speed would be reduced from 50 miles per hour to 35 miles per hour.
Improving the stretch would also include the signalization of two more intersections along the state-owned highway, one at Poco Way/South Napa Junction Road and the other at Crawford Way. In addition, business access/bus lanes would be built, along with redesigned pedestrian crossings and bike lanes separated from vehicular traffic.
The cost of the signal option is estimated at $58 million, including $3 million for right-of-way land acquisition. By contrast, installing six multi-lane roundabouts could cost $75 million, including $10 million for right-of-way land acquisitions.
The Napa Valley Transportation Agency could formally remove the roundabout alternative on Feb. 18. The voting board include representatives from all jurisdictions in Napa County, including American Canyon Vice Mayor Mark Joseph.
The roundabouts and the signal options were also presented for feedback before the NVTA board of directors on Jan. 21.
NVTA seeks to complete environmental studies by the end of this year. A two-year design phase would follow, with construction possibly beginning in 2029, if funding is available. Construction would take 18 months.
City Councilman David Oro said he hopes that timeline can be met.
He noted that in 2012, before he was elected to the City Council, he volunteered to be on a committee that studied the Highway 29 corridor from Highway 37 in Vallejo to Trancas Street in Napa.
“Thirteen years later we haven’t done anything,” he said.
American Canyon was told no three-lane highway could be built, Oro recalled. Then the idea of roundabouts was discussed.
Oro said he did not think multiple-lane roundabouts would work, given the amount of traffic.
“Now we’re going back to two lanes and improvements,” Oro said. “Let it be known today that David Oro was always right.”
Traffic through American Canyon is a regional issue. It is “not the result of making American Canyon what we want it to be – schools, housing, parks, a town center. It is not our fault,” Oro said.
“It is because upvalley is not building enough affordable housing for their workers,” he added. “So, they’re coming from American Canyon, Vallejo, Solano, Benicia and other places to get a job upvalley.”
American Canyon residents “need to build the town that they deserve,” Oro said. That includes a “beautiful highway, parks, open space, housing for all and services that we need to be able to stay in town.
“Unfortunately for us, we have a highway that is an economic lifeblood of the rest of the Napa Valley,” Oro said.
He asked about the data and how the study was conducted for the corridor. There may only be 10,000 adults in American Canyon, he noted. American Canyon, the county’s fastest growing city, has about 21,700 residents.
Vice Mayor Mark Joseph said he was always apprehensive about roundabouts.
Joseph agreed with Oro that the highway corridor project has been years in the making. However, he noted that nothing was done for about 10 years because the city, NVTA and Caltrans were at odd about the options. The city sought a six-lane highway and everybody else maintained that would not happen, said Joseph, who chairs NVTA’s board of directors.
About five years ago, the city was persuaded not to pursue a six-lane alternative for Highway 29, he said.
Residents who addressed the city council on Feb. 3 spoke against the roundabouts.
Longtime resident Beth Marcus said she was not “too thrilled” with the idea of having roundabouts on Highway 29. She wondered how they would affect public safety vehicles including ambulances.
Leon Garcia, the former mayor, also raised concerns about the roundabouts. He wondered how he could drive across Highway 29 at peak hour, using a three-lane roundabout with no yield sign and no break in traffic flow.
Another resident, Jeannette Goyetche, wrote in an email she opposed building the roundabouts because of the heavy traffic. Adding a lane in each direction would work much better, said Goyetche, who also supports building pedestrian bridges across the highway at American Canyon Road and Napa Junction.
Highway 29 is a state highway; however, NVTA is the lead agency in the project to improve the Highway 29 corridor in American Canyon. Caltrans, the state agency, provides coordination and technical oversight, according to NVTA.
