‘Just plain horrible': Prolonged Caltrans construction in California resort town has locals fuming

San Francisco Chronicle​

3 days ago

Last winter, Jennifer Gilbert drove into Guerneville, but the bohemian town she'd loved since childhood seemed to be gone. Barricades choked block after block of Main Street. Construction vehicles and equipment were strewn about. Instead of stopping, she kept driving.
'I thought, 'Oh no what happened?'' the Woodside resident said.
Fast-forward to June, and Caltrans construction barricades still lined Main Street, with seemingly no place for pedestrians to walk. Rivertime Restaurant and Bar owner Leslie 'Jo' Crane said she routinely found orange-and-white striped barricades blocking the door of her business without warning, but she couldn't afford to close so she would push them aside.
'It was ridiculous — people didn't realize we were open,' Crane said.
The $6.6 million project to redo four blocks of sidewalks, launched last September, was supposed to wrap up before the crucial summer season when businesses earn most of their income. But the project has dragged into July. Though most sidewalks have reopened in the past several weeks, allowing tourists to park and walk freely again, construction isn't fully done. A Caltrans spokesperson said the project is expected to be complete sometime this fall.
'It's been a mess,' said Nick Schwanz, Russian River Chamber of Commerce president and owner of Solar Punk Farms, a queer-run regenerative farm and event space.
'Welcome to Caltrans,' Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said.
Caltrans spokesperson Jeffrey Weiss said the project to upgrade Guerneville's sidewalks to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act was originally slated to begin last summer. Caltrans delayed the project start 'to minimize construction impacts on merchants during the town's busy summer season,' he said in an email. Once underway, the project hit multiple delays, such as when 'the contractor encountered unexpected underground utility wires that were inactive and not previously documented,' he said.
Philip Tymon, a longtime Guerneville resident and chair of volunteer-run nonprofit River Arts, said he and others were initially excited that the sidewalk project might create opportunities to spiff up the gritty, bohemian outpost and make it look and feel like a gateway to the towns and beaches dotting the lower Russian River.
But workers poured concrete in an area slated for native plant gardens.
Schwanz and Hopkins said the chamber received Caltrans' blessing to paint a rainbow crosswalk where westbound River Road enters town — an apt symbol for the LGBTQ oasis. But Hopkins said they were informed this week the rainbow project was on hold because Caltrans would now require the county to seek a permit and easement to add color to pavement.
'We've had plans for rainbow crosswalks, we've had plans for a mural, we've had plans for plantings. And honestly Caltrans keeps changing its mind or making mistakes,' Hopkins said.
Hopkins and business owners said it seemed that Caltrans was operating as if it was repaving a highway — as opposed to doing construction in the middle of a town where local businesses need to stay afloat.
Ryan Leong, another Caltrans spokesperson, acknowledged that crews had mistakenly paved an area where the community had planned a garden and said it was working with the contractor 'to make that correction.' He said the agency was looking into the rainbow crosswalk issue but couldn't provide comment in time for publication.
'The current plans do not include any landscaping components,' he said in a statement. 'However, Caltrans will coordinate with local officials on any future efforts to add landscaping throughout the Downtown Guerneville area.' Leong didn't respond to the overall complaints from Guerneville about how the agency managed the project.
Douglas DeVivo, owner of Blue Door Gallery, said he'd grown so despondent over the financial loss that he had begun planning to close his business for good. Many business owners reported their revenue had plummeted 30% to 50% so far this year, compared with last year.
'It was horrible, just plain horrible,' DeVivo said.
Across the street at Piknik Town Market, owner Mags van der Veen said the impact 'was pretty severe.'
'People driving home from the coast — they wouldn't stop for lunch. They'd just keep on driving,' van der Veen said.
Like many small towns across California, a state highway also serves as Main Street in Guerneville.
That has left Guerneville residents few avenues to weigh in on how revamping their town — from business disruptions to aesthetics — might unfold. Guerneville is unincorporated and has no city council. The town's tax revenue flows into general county coffers. Hopkins represents the area in a sprawling district from Sebastopol to Fort Ross on the coast.
'It certainly should not take this long and be this painful and have this much economic impact,' said Hopkins, who for a time had to duck under yellow caution tape to get to her Guerneville district office. 'And yet we have zero authority over Caltrans.'
The Russian River Chamber of Commerce held a fundraiser in May. Schwanz said the group distributed $18,000 among 26 businesses based on need — not enough, but something, he said.
The project included widening sidewalks, installing 23 curb ramps to accommodate wheelchairs, adding traffic signals and sidewalk bulb-outs at corners crossings as well as two pedestrian beacons. It is also adding railings to the Fife Creek Bridge on the western end of town.
The construction has dampened what is otherwise unfolding as a renaissance for the Russian River destination after a historic 2019 flood and pandemic-sparked business closures. New businesses such as the River Eclectic resort and swim club are drawing locals and visitors alike. Others are anticipated to open, including the Guerneville Social Club on Fourth Street.
Hopkins said that some delays have been understandable, and she was told the contractor had no documentation for the pipes or old growth redwood stumps under the sidewalk's surface.
Weiss also said that during the sidewalk excavation, crews 'noticed that the roadway drainage was in poor condition and extensive repairs were made.'
'To give them a small amount of grace, oftentimes old towns built a long time ago have unexpected challenges,' Hopkins said. 'And, yet, you should be prepared for that.'
Today, there are signs the project is wrapping up. Rows and rows of barriers that blocked off Main Street sidewalks are mostly down. Bright white sidewalks have replaced the gritty and gray old concrete. Caltrans said the remaining work involves bump outs of the sidewalk at corners and signal lights to make pedestrian crossings safer.
On a recent warm Saturday afternoon, people clinked glasses at sidewalk tables along the northern side of Main Street. Tan in Tevas and crop tops, a group of tourists stopped to look at a sun hat display outside a shop. Children skipped holding ice cream cones from Nimble and Finn's. U.S. flags flapped outside business doors — originally hung for the town's Fourth of July parade.
Gilbert, who didn't stop last winter, was back on a recent July weekend and sat sipping sangria at a sidewalk table outside Trillium Winebar & Taproom, named for the flowers that thrive in the shade of redwood trees.
Many business owners said they believed they would eventually rebound, but they want to help the next Main Street town on a state highway avoid a similar headache.
'If I had advice for the next community — get a lawyer,' DeVivo said.