Steele Lane Safety Improvements

 

Location

Steele Lane from Meyers Drive to Mendocino Avenue

City or County Responsible for Project

Santa Rosa, CA

Category

Safety or Intelligent Transportation System Projects

Description

The Steele Lane Safety Improvement Project demonstrates the City of Santa Rosa’s commitment to advancing safety and multimodal accessibility on a high-injury corridor. Steele Lane, particularly the segment adjacent to Steele Lane Elementary School, has a documented history of serious bicycle and pedestrian collisions—a concern amplified by the corridor’s role as a busy connector near a Highway 101 interchange and its 35 mph posted speed limit. Prioritizing safety, the City implemented a data-driven pilot study to test innovative road configurations and evaluate impacts on vehicle speeds, multimodal interactions, and school access.

The pilot project used tactical, flexible design elements—including a road diet, lane reallocation, and buffered/protected bike space—to create safer conditions for students, families, and all road users while carefully monitoring travel times and broader traffic impacts. In Phase One, the City reduced one westbound travel lane in front of Steele Lane Elementary School and reassigned that space to support school drop-off/pick-up and improved pedestrian access. City staff collected extensive observational data on vehicle queueing, bike and pedestrian movements, conflicts, and user comfort across multiple times of day.

Results from Phase One showed that during school drop-off and pick-up periods, vehicle speeds decreased significantly, reflecting a safer environment for walking, biking, and loading/unloading. Importantly, no significant negative impacts to overall travel times were observed outside peak times, indicating that the safety enhancements did not come at the cost of excessive delay.

Building on these findings, Phase Two introduced additional safety refinements such as a striped two-way left-turn lane, enhanced signage, and a protected westbound bike lane, improving clarity for motorists and dedicated space for bicyclists. Data collected during Phase Two demonstrated that during school traffic peaks vehicle speeds decreased by approximately 17 % during school periods, further enhancing safety for students and other vulnerable users. Outside school hours, speeds remained consistent with community expectations, and emergency vehicle response times were preserved through careful design of turn lanes and circulation patterns.

The pilot included a public survey that provided community insight into perceived safety and comfort. The majority of respondents reported that the reconfiguration made walking, biking, and driving near the school feel safer and more comfortable, especially for families navigating school access. While opinions varied, the data clearly supported the benefits of lane reallocation for multimodal safety without significantly disadvantaging vehicle traffic.

Steele Lane’s pilot approach exemplifies a low-cost, responsive safety intervention rooted in traffic engineering best practices: testing configurations with paint, bollards, and signage before committing to permanent infrastructure. Its phased implementation allowed the City to measure real-world impacts and refine design decisions based on observed performance rather than assumptions alone. Outcomes include measurable reductions in vehicle speeds during critical periods, improved separation between people and vehicles, enhanced bicycle space, and safer crossings near a key school destination.

By reducing speeds, shortening crossing distances, and improving visibility for all users, the Steele Lane Pilot Study has enhanced safety on a high-injury network corridor and created a replicable model for other communities seeking tactical, data-driven safety improvements.