Undercrossing Overcomes Rohnert Park Division in Milestone Ceremony

Rohnert Park moved about 80 yards closer to unity this afternoon, with the long-awaited opening of the undercrossing, below the still-in-construction Hwy. 101.

"This new direct access will provide easier, safer and quicker way to travel across town," said Bijan Sartipi succinctly, in a relatively brief Milesone Ceremony at 3 pm in the at Golf Course Dr. and Roberts Lake Rd., across from Mary's Pizza. Sartipi is the director of California Department of Transportation District 4, which oversaw the project $40 million project.

Also speaking were Shirlee Zane, 3rd District County Supervisor, and the attending members of the. Zane made it a point to offer her gratitude to the businesses in the area for their patience and support, and pointed out the big budget for the project meant "hundreds of jobs provided when the job sphere most desperately needed them."

As temperatures hovered around 90 at the Park & Ride location on the June afternoon, about 80 people stuck to the shade beneath the awning erected for the occasion. Busses and other traffic roared by, occasionally drowning out the speakers, but everyone was just happy that traffic was flowing - and it would shortly be flowing even better.

Zane introduced as "the one person least likely to appreciate this" accomplishment, since Mackenzie rides his bike nearly everywhere - including to this afternoon event, where he sat ruddy and just a bit moist from the exertion. He in turn was quick to point out that he and others had lobbied strenuously for a pedestrian and bicycle conduit to parallel the traffic along the Wilfred Interchange.

"This is, in fact, a very welcome moment for Rohnert Park," he said.

Though the program called for speaking time for all five members of the City Council, Mackenzie played the part of MC and grabbed the portable microphone to "interview" the four other councilors, rather than turning the podium over to them.

Thus the ceremony lasted a bare 20 minutes before the assembled city employees, CalTrans officials and engineers, . workers and not a few members of the press headed down Golf Course, beneath the freeway's welcome shadow to the Redwood Dr. and Wilfred intersection.

Once the ribbon was cut (see the gallery accompanying this story), everybody milled around until the Ghilotti workmen simultaneously removed the orange caution cones at both ends of the new undercrossing, turned on the traffic lights, and let the cars flow for the first time between these two halves of Rohnert Park along its newest east-west thoroughfares. By 3:40 p.m. the first cars came through.

The traffic flowed  cautiously at first, as drivers seemed baffled by the ease of transit. Most continued to turn left or right toward the Commerce underpass or the Expressway overpass, befuddled by the easy route opened to them.

"They didn't get the memo," said Paul Haus of CalTrans drily.

Perhaps. But they will soon get the message that Rohnert Park is this much closer to unification.