GREEN LIGHT FOR $16M HEALDSBURG AVENUE REDESIGN

‘TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECT’ FUELED BY $11.8 MILLION TRANSPORTATION

GRANT FROM MTC

By Christian Kallen

Imagine Healdsburg Avenue north of downtown as a smooth mile and a half of three-lane road, with plenty of room for bikes and pedestrians as well as autos, in a meandering swerve between art-friendly landscapes in what urban designers would call a “linear park.”

That’s the vision for the “complete street project” that the City of Healdsburg has been working toward for over five years, but it’s a vision that is beginning to look less like a dream and more like a done deal.

The long-evolving goal to remake the north half of Healdsburg Avenue into a modern “multi-modal” route connecting the town to new developments at North Village and Montage is $11.8 million closer to reality, thanks to grant approval from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).

The success of the city’s grant proposal comes after many years of “hard work and strategizing by the city team, and advocating by our city council,” said Larry Zimmer, director of public works. “This truly will be a transformative project for the city,”

Zimmer, who also wears the hat of city engineer, emphasized that the $11.8 million grant is just for construction. “Construction cost is very preliminary now, but will be further refined during design. We have another $636,000 in grant funding, along with city funds, to complete the design,” he said.

The “Healdsburg Complete Streets Project” was

➝ Healdsburg Avenue, 6