March 3, 2026
Dear Mayor McLewis and Members of the City Council,
The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition appreciates that the downtown review requires protected bike lanes as part of the final project design, but regardless of which way vehicle traffic is moving, these lanes still have to be accessible and get bicyclists where they need to go.
We have generally supported one-way streets and one-way bike lanes because travel is clear and predictable for all. We support the general concept of Alternative 1 – converting existing Class 2 bike lanes into protected lanes.
We do also appreciate that a move to two-way streets will help slow speeds through downtown, which is a critical part of a safe streets approach. However, two-way traffic means the bike facilities need some careful scrutiny. For instance, moving all of the bike traffic to a two-way cycletrack on Petaluma Avenue creates serious questions around how cyclists safely cross travel lanes to enter and exit the cycletrack. It also is not clear how cyclists would access businesses on Main Street.
If the city is going to move in this direction, the bike facilities need to be carefully designed and reviewed to ensure that they are safe and accessible for all users. It does no good to require protected bike lanes, and then create a design that is not useful for cyclists.
Sincerely,
Emily Shartin
Outreach & Advocacy Manager