Two quick wins: Alameda opens Central Avenue bikeway; Santa Rosa blocks new parking at downtown plaza

# What happened

In Santa Rosa, bike and transit advocacy groups won a withdrawal of a proposal to convert a prominent pedestrian frontage at the Santa Rosa Plaza on B Street into additional parking. The decision preserves a visible public space between Courthouse Square and Railroad Square.

# Why it matters

Alameda's bikeway is a near-term improvement for everyday trips to two schools and local parks. It includes features beyond painted lanes: bus-boarding islands near Washington Park and three roundabouts with markings that delineate space for pedestrians and cyclists. Those elements can reduce conflicts between modes and streamline bus boarding.

The Santa Rosa outcome keeps an existing pedestrian area intact and avoids adding driveways and curb cuts that would increase vehicle conflict points next to bike infrastructure. Advocates argued the parking conversion would remove public art and landscaping and worsen the physical division between downtown districts and the nearby SMART transit station.

# What to know about the Central Avenue project

• Official opening: A ribbon-cutting ceremony included Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft in front of Encinal School, though the facility had already been in use prior to the ceremony.
• Key design features: protected two-way bikeway, bus-boarding islands near Washington Park, and three roundabouts with markings for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Remaining gaps: east of 8th Street the protected lanes end and the corridor reverts to a road diet with paint-only bike lanes, leaving users less protected on that segment.

# What to know about the Santa Rosa decision

• Who acted: Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Bikeable Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa YIMBY, and the North Bay Transit Riders pushed against the parking conversion.
• What was proposed: converting a pedestrian area along B Street at Santa Rosa Plaza into additional surface parking.
• Outcome: the project was withdrawn, preserving the pedestrian frontage and existing public art and landscaping.
• Advocates' concerns: the project would have added two driveways within two blocks, creating conflict where drivers exiting parking would meet the merge point of a bike lane and a right-turn pocket. Advocates described that as worsening safety and undermining city goals for a walkable, bikeable downtown.

# Bottom line

Both stories illustrate how relatively small public-space and street-design choices change how people travel and use downtown areas. Alameda's project provides immediate protected biking infrastructure and transit boarding improvements for school trips, while the Santa Rosa victory preserves pedestrian space and prevents new vehicle conflict points adjacent to bike routes.

# Next steps for readers

If you bike, walk, or take transit in these areas, look for the protected lanes and bus islands on Central Avenue and note where protection ends east of 8th Street. In Santa Rosa, monitor downtown planning updates to see how the preserved plaza frontage will be maintained or improved.