The city of Rohnert Park is in a constant battle to decrease traffic within the city. Approximately 12,400 people drive into Rohnert Park for work, while at the same time 18,000 people who live in Rohnert Park commute outside of the city. This creates problems for various roads within the city limits that were originally constructed to withstand half the amount of traffic flow.

The Rohnert Park City Council has had their minds set on improving roads that have seen a large increase in traffic. With the new University District that is on track to hold 1,450 single family houses and a 218-unit apartment complex brings new challenges that the city council is working to tackle. 

On Oct. 23, the Rohnert Park City Council met and discussed item eight, which is a plan to expand the intersection up to Keiser Ave. to help handle the increased traffic brought on by the new University District. A possible roundabout was talked about, but unfortunately the roundabout options did not seem like the right fit for the area. 

Councilmember Jake Mackenzie said to the Community Voice, “As much as I’m known as a proponent of roundabouts, I also understand the complexity of that location.”

The proposed Snyder Lane expansion project is going in the direction of implementing a traffic signal. This option includes widening Snyder Lane to four lanes north of the middle school, but returns to a two lane configuration south of Crane Creek bridge. The estimated cost of the construction is approximately $2.5 million. 

Mayor Pam Stafford said to the Community Voice, “This is huge process. It’s a great undertaking, so to anyone that might not understand the general plan process, we started a while ago because it takes such a long time.”

This effort is an early start to the 2040 General Plan that is a strategy to provide more opportunities to work within the city. The goal is to create more jobs within the city of Rohnert Park so that residents can live and work without having to commute outside of it, thus generating more traffic. 

Not only Rohnert Park residents will benefit from the expansion of Snyder Lane, but Sonoma State students will as well. Many students living off campus use the road to get to campus and after the expansion project is complete students will benefit from a faster commute time. 

Jason Roeder a senior statistics major at Sonoma State said, “I’m glad that Rohnert Park is finally doing something to increase traffic flow and improve the roads. I use Snyder Lane everyday and always get stuck in traffic while trying to make it to class on time.