From: Aamil Rick Targow
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2026 5:12 PM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Two-way traffic disaster
Dear City Council Members:
This is oppose the two-way recommendation from the Planning Commission.
First, of course, returning to two-streets downtown was opposed by a clear majority of respondents to the plans.
Second, however, I would remind the Council that before the switch to one-way streets, considerably less traffic was making its way though town.
Third, there are currently significant backups in the North- and South-bound directions in heavy-traffic times. I live on Eleanor Ave., and so to leave or return to my house, I must either turn onto or off of Petaluma, or attempt to cross it. Yesterday, at 3:30 p.m., I was heading to the City and saw the Northbound traffic stop-and-go all the way back to Handline. Now imagine that traffic if, rather than three lanes the last block before 12 (right turn/through/through-and-left-turn), there were only two lanes to handle left turns, rightturns, and through traffic. And how difficult would it be for me and my neighbors to cross Petaluma when there were two lanes of traffic, and left-turning cars at the intersections to boot.
Now, it is perhaps true that Petaluma would have much less traffic if Main Street were twoway, but that merely shifts the problem to the Southbound traffic coming into town, for which there is no parallel road to relieve the congestion, and which now often backs up in the late afternoon for much of the way up the hill, even to Murphy or above. At least there are three lanes in the last block before 12, but imagine if there were only two, with all of the left-turning traffic onto 12 occupying one of those two lanes, leaving the other for through travel and right-turners.
I saw what happened to the traffic on Petaluma when the little-used bike lane eliminated one of the car lanes. Please don't make things worse with the Planning Commission's illconsidered recommendation. Follow the guidance of the majority of your constituents who responded to the survey.
Thank you.
Aamil Targow