The vast majority of people responding to this week’s online poll want to see officials do more to bring about the long-planned Rainier connector, which would provide an additional link from east to west Petaluma.
Here are some of the comments.
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“As much as we need another crosstown connector, I doubt this will ever get built. Our city council has proven that they can’t manage their way out of a paper bag. Additionally, I don’t think that the federal funding is there, which would be needed in order for there to even be a chance for this to be built.”
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“There is no money, although the Council Majority seems intently organized to build us into retail development traffic gridlock. Their strategy appears to be to back Petalumans into begging for a parcel tax boondoggle to dig us out. Or perhaps to demonstrate dire need to the state to pay for it. We are now hearing that the big retail isn’t paying for our needs.”
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“More will get done when David Glass is no longer mayor.”
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“Nope. The progressives will do whatever they can to block it. East side residents get the shaft every time. Do not vote for any City Council candidate that does not support the Rainier Crossing.”
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“Now that work is begining on widening Highway 101 through Petaluma and the Friedman’s shopping center is under construction, now is the time to get the Rainer Connector started. By completing the connector earlier than later, traffic impact will be minimized once the other two projects are finished. Perhaps city leaders could look toward regional and federal highway funding to get this project started!”
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“Petaluma needs more than one way to cross the linear obstructions of both Highway 101 and the river. The traffic mess at East Washington Street and McDowell Boulevard will only be fixed by the Rainier crossover. Likewise the D Street backups for both Lakeville Road and Petaluma Boulevard will only be fixed by extension of Caulfield Rd and a new river crossing. Traffic must be allowed to circulate, not concentrate.
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“That’s a leading question. Using this type of question/logic, you could just as well have asked, ‘Are Petaluma’s elected officials doing too much to bring about the Rainier Cross-town Connector? Yes/No/Not sure’.”
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“The Rainier Cross-town Connector is a fairy tale. It was never meant to be. It was first invented to increase the value of a land-locked piece of land in the flood plain, then to mitigate traffic generated by numerous East Petaluma projects, then to open more flood plain lands for unneeded development. There has never been any money to pay for it and there never will. And even if it ever was built, it’s in the wrong location to alleviate traffic problems.”
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“There is a strong need to relieve the traffic on East Washington Street and connect with Highway 101.”
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“These brain-dead officials aren’t doing anything about our greatly needed drive-in pharmacy and they are not doing anything about the greatly needed Rainier connector either. So what else is new?”
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“They can’t seem to figure out the timing of the cross-town traffic lights and their lack of function. How are they going to get anything accomplished with the Rainier Cross-town Connector? It’s been over 15 years and counting and still nothing.”
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“They seem to be progressing. But beware. There are people running for the council who are dead set against it.”
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“They still have to find funding and complete the 101 widening first. Then they have to find $64 million to pay for Rainier. What a way to drum up a political beat. Must be political fundraising time for an election year. Way to help the development-backed candidates by creating a false story off a fabricated opinion poll.”
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“They will ignore it until we force them to build it. Rainier should be a top priority.”
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“They won’t allow another drive-thru in town because of greenhouse gases and emissions, yet they make families drive too far north or too far south just to get across town. It makes no sense. Build the darn thing already! Traffic is horrible in this city.”
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“This has been a total joke for as long as I can remember. Just another reason why no one cares for politicians.”
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“Unless we remove one of the liberals, it will never happen. They could care less that it takes 20 minutes to get across town, which increases my carbon footprint!”
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“We were promised this crosstown connector decades ago! Rainier was purposely designed as a four-lane road to accommodate the traffic. It’s ridiculous that a town this size only has one major road to traverse the city. If you think eastbound traffic at Washington Street and McDowel Boulevard is bad now, wait until Friedman’s opens!
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“When have any officials taken this seriously? How many years has it been? How much more traffic do we have crossing town? It will never happen. They spend too much time screwing up the Boulevard and other roads. They like downsizing roads to create more traffic congestion, not making ways to ease traffic congestion. What Petaluma wants and needs is always left in the hands of idiots.”
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“Where did the seed money go that was meant for the Rainier crosstown connector?”
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“Your question is rigged — Petaluma can’t afford the Rainier connector without imposing a tax increase, but any new road taxes raised should legitimately go to fixing our present deficiencies, not toward new projects. The failed model of saying new retail centers like Target and Friedman would generate tax revenue sufficient to fix our current road problems has already been proven false, so there’s another dead-end for the Rainier project. Just give it up.”
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“Will it get rid of the current traffic disaster caused by the road diet on the Boulevard and construction on East Washington Street?”