From: gg
Sent: Monday, March 2, 2026 3:26 PM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Public Comment for "Reimagining the Downtown Core" City Council Meeting
Hello! My name is Angela Jackson, and I live and work in Sebastopol.
I feel strongly that returning to two-way traffic would inhibit traffic flow through town, particularly during peak hours (work commutes and school pick up and drop off, both in the mornings from ~8-10 and in the afternoons between 3 and 6). We've already seen big back ups in south Sebastopol in the afternoons since switching to a single-lane model on the northbound side a few years ago, and we already have backups at all of the left turn lights on either side of the highway, which would be exacerbated if both sides were made to be two-way. I would prefer Fine-Tune Today or Walkable One-Way.
Additionally, I think that something needs to change about the new pedestrian stop light at McKinley and Petaluma Ave. Pedestrians are not mindful of spamming the crosswalk, and it seems that drivers are unaware that they only need to stop when the light is a solid red (I read it as we can stop and go when the light is flashing, though to be fair the posted signage is extremely confusing). This, coupled with the overkill of having two different crosswalks both at the Bodega Highway light and next to Screamin Mimis sometimes causes insane backups on northbound 116 that go all the way back to Handline, and sometimes even the Lynch Road light.
Lastly, I am very hesitant to get rid of any of the parking available downtown, even for the sake of making Sebastopol more "walkable." What would truly make Sebastopol more pedestrian-friendly would be to actually enforce the downtown speed limits, and put a blinking crosswalk at the crossroad of Gravenstein Highway South/South Main Street and Burnett Street. I have known multiple people who have been hit in that crosswalk and I genuinely fear for my life daily when I need to cross there to get to work. Once people get the green light at Bodega Highway they immediately speed into what continues to be a 25- zone until passing Grateful Bagel, often reaching upwards of 35-40 MPH before even reaching the post office. Cars also simply do not stop for pedestrians at this crosswalk, zooming by at these elevated speeds when they are legally required to stop. This is extremely dangerous, and while I can understand our police department being understaffed, I cannot understand the ongoing negligence of that corner -- everyone knows that it is scary and unsafe.
Thank you,
Angela