Long-Planned HWY-29 Upgrades Await $50M

NAPA VALLEY, CA — In a Wednesday night meeting, Napa Valley Transportation Authority officials heard feedback from around 40 American Canyon residents on planned pedestrian and bike-friendly upgrades to the 1.5-mile strip of state Highway 29 that runs through the city.

The plan, dubbed the American Canyon Corridor Improvement Project, is aimed at improving aesthetics and safety for city dwellers and visitors. The project has been developed through a series of community meetings that started in 2022.

City Council members have long fielded complaints from residents regarding the safety of the road. Right now, Highway 29 is as pedestrian- and bike-unfriendly as it gets, despite splitting down the middle of a city of 22,000 people -- many of them young kids who cross the highway to go to school.

Crosswalks are unprotected, there's no bike lane and entire sidewalks are missing in some areas. In their latest report, the American Canyon Police Department states that in 2025 there were 78 recorded collisions on Highway 29, plus two traffic fatalities in the city.

Funding for the upgrades, which would cover a bidding process, design and construction, is projected at $50 million. So far, only funds for an environmental review have been secured, according to Vice Mayor Mark Joseph.

"We're working on the money to get the design work and take it out to bid. NVTA is working on securing $2 million to go to the next phase of the study," Joseph said. "I hope by the time we get this project ready to go out to bid, we'll have a fair amount of the chunks of money available so there may not be much of a gap."

NVTA aims to secure federal funds to cover the rest, said Grant Bailey, NVTA program manager, in his presentation at Wednesday's meeting.

"There's a lot of support for the project," said Bailey. However, he said, actually breaking ground is "funding dependent."

Right now, the estimated start date for construction is 2029.

In the last 10 years, projects like this have become exponentially more expensive than before, said Bailey.

A traffic signal alone can cost up to $1 million. The plan includes five upgrades to existing signals and two new signals, one at the highway's intersection with South Napa Junction Road and one at Crawford Way.

Plus, said Bailey, there are the added costs of building entirely new components of the highway: pedestrian and bike pathways separate from the road, a median in the center of the highway and gutters.

The state highway is 107 miles long and travels the length of Napa County from north to south -- a major artery for commuters going to and from Napa Valley. American Canyon alone, a small city covering 6 square miles, sees an estimated 45,000 cars traveling down the highway daily.

"This shows we're really starting to collaborate," Mayor Pierre Washington said after the meeting, noting that the city is working closely with NVTA nd Caltrans to develop the plan using resident input.

Isaac Biera, who grew up in American Canyon and is raising his kids there, was dissatisfied with the proposal.

"My frustration is that I don't know what the improvement is in terms of traffic flow," he said, pointing to a poster board NVTA had set up to demonstrate changes.

"I live two blocks down from the library," said Biera. "I work on South Kelly right next to Rang Dong Winery." For reference, his commute is a straight 4.4-mile line.

"It takes me seven minutes at 5 a.m., and it takes me 37 minutes at 3 p.m. to get home," he said.

Pedestrians and cyclists might be happy, he said, but ultimately, "It's still the same road."

By Griffin Jones, Bay City News
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