NVTA dumps roundabouts idea for Highway 29
No roundabouts will be built along Highway 29 in American Canyon, where traffic congestion has been among the top concerns for years. Instead, new traffic signals, bus and bike lanes and other improvements are under consideration.
The Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA), the agency that oversees traffic issues in Napa County, voted Wednesday to forgo the roundabout option to improve the 1.5-mile stretch of Highway from Napa Junction Road to American Canyon. About 45,000 vehicles use this route daily.
There is too much vehicular traffic along that stretch of Highway 29 for roundabouts to be effective, Grant Bailey, NVTA engineering manager at NVTA, told the board. The volume of traffic along the corridor exceeds the roundabouts’ capacity, even if they are designed with three lanes.
Most intersections would fail by 2050 if these roundabouts were built, the data indicate.
At rush hour in the evening, more than 3,500 vehicles an hour cross Napa Junction Road and Donaldson Road, according to NVTA. A three-lane roundabout can only accommodate up to 2,300 vehicles an hour.
NVTA now plans to pursue analyzing the installation of traffic signals, an option estimated at $58 million. Building roundabouts at six intersections along Highway 29 would have cost $75 million, including $10 million for right-of-way acquisition.
The current proposal that is going to be pursued includes installing a new traffic signal system at six intersections. That would entail improving four existing signalized intersections and adding traffic signals at Poco Way/South Napa Junction Road and Crawford Way.
In addition, the proposal includes the construction of new bus and bike lanes as wells as four bus stops or bus islands, as well as improving pedestrian crossings and lowering the maximum speed limit from 50 miles an hour to 35 miles an hour.
NVTA plans to wrap up the studies by the end of this year, followed by a two-year-long design phase. Construction could begin in 2029.
Mayor Pierre Washington said installing traffic signals is the most efficient solution.
Vice Mayor Mark Joseph agreed traffic signals make the most sense,but questioned installing traffic signals at Crawford Way and Poco Way/South Napa Junction.
Congestion started in American Canyon when two signals were added when Walmart was built, he said. Walmart opened in 2007 after three years of litigation over the development.
Joseph also said that drivers turning right onto Highway 29 from American Canyon Road should have a “free” right. That lane would allow drivers to make the turn without stopping in order to merge onto Highway 29.
The different options for Highway 29 in American Canyon were presented for feedback to NVTA on Jan. 21 and to the American Canyon City Council on Feb. 3.
American Canyon City Council members voiced their support for NVTA’s recommendation to forgo the idea to build roundabouts on Highway 29.
City Councilman David Oro and others on Feb. 3 said they did not think roundabouts were a solution given the amount of traffic in American Canyon. Oro noted that traffic congestion is a regional issue, caused by the lack of affordable housing 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.
NVTA is the lead agency for this project. It coordinates the effort with Caltrans, the state agency that manages state highways, including Highway 29.
