The City of Healdsburg just posted a call for qualified designers to work up a roundabout design for the five-way intersection - where Healdsburg Ave., Mill St. and Vine St. meet, one block south of the Plaza.
Roundabouts are failry common in European cities, notably the one that encircles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, commissioned by Napoleon. Traffic enters from several directions, but always then turns and flows to the right; drivers leave the round-about by another right turn down their street. Stop sighs may or may not be placed at street entrances to control the flow of traffic.
The roundabout traffic soluton has been controversial in Sonoma County. In Cotati, voters in November passed a measure to prohibit them (Measure U), despite their being favored by the Cotati City Council.
In Santa Rosa, a series of small roundabouts were installed in the SRJC district several years ago, in part as a means of slowing residential traffic, but were removed after failing to solve the problem.
But in Healdsburg it might be a viable solution. The City has been working on a plan to upgrade the south "gateway" to downtown over the past two years or so, and this call for submissions is the next step.
The full text of the city's Request for Statement of Qualifications (RFQ) is below.
The City of Healdsburg is seeking a qualified design firm, or team, with extensive experience and knowledge of designing roundabouts, municipal utilities (water, sewer, electric, and storm drainage), pedestrian routes, quiet zone at-grade railroad crossings, signage, landscaping and lighting that will help brand the Central Healdsburg area as a destination location. The City seeks to partner with the selected consultant during the contract scoping stage to specifically define the scope of work for the purposes for preparing plans, specifications and construction contract documents for improvements at the 5-Way Intersection of Healdsburg Avenue, Vine Street, and Mill Street (the “5-Way Intersection”), including but not limited to roundabout, utilities and lighting. Because this will be the main entryway into the City, landscaping and aesthetics will be a very important component of the final design.
All qualified firms that are interested in providing these services to the City of Healdsburg are invited to submit their Statement of Qualifications (SOQ). All SOQ’s must comply with the requirements specified in this Request for Statement of Qualifications (RFQ).
To download the SOQ please see the Current Contract Opportunities page.
