City Hosting Meeting This Week About Grove Street Neighborhood Plan

HEALDSBURG, CA — The city of Healdsburg is hosting a community meeting Thursday about the Grove Street Neighborhood Plan.

The Grove Street neighborhood contains a mixture of uses including senior housing, single-family dwellings, multifamily dwellings, affordable housing units, large and boutique hotels, a skate park, and businesses.

Design is beginning for complete street improvements along Grove Street between Grant Street and Dry Creek Road. The project aims to improve walking, biking and transit use along the corridor with the installation of continuous curbs, gutters and sidewalks.

It is anticipated that construction will start in the spring of 2025.

The One Bay Area Cycle 3 Grant program is partially funding the project by providing approximately $2.85 million for construction.

Residents can learn about the design concepts and share feedback on the plan during Thursday's meeting which starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Healdsburg Community Center. Spanish interpretation will be provided.

Extensive Community Engagement

The Grove Street Neighborhood Plan encompasses 104 acres and 70 properties along Grove Street between Grant Street and Dry Creek Road. Following the completion of the plan, the Grove Street Neighborhood Study provided street design for use as the basis for anticipated development. Both processes involved extensive community engagement.

Providing multimodal access on Grove Street will reduce the dependence on driving, greatly benefiting the residents. This will in turn improve safety for all users and reduce emissions and vehicular trips.

While some improvements have already been constructed through development projects, including a traffic circle, the corridor through this diverse neighborhood lacks a continuous ADA-compliant pedestrian walkway or bike route. The project as proposed will construct a continuous curb, gutter and sidewalk — providing safe pedestrian access to all.

Connections will be made to the two bus stops within the project's parameters. Improvements to both bus stops are also planned.

To improve the water quality of adjacent receiving waters, Foss Creek and the Russian River, low-impact development improvements will be included in the landscape strips. The number of trees planted will be maximized to shade the walkways, reduce vehicle speeds, improve air and water quality, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and improve the overall quality of life for this neighborhood and the entire Healdsburg community.

Some segments of Grove Street frontage have had the overhead utilities undergrounded and aesthetically pleasing streetlights added. The project as proposed will keep the same "historic-style" street lighting and will be coordinated with a separate city project planned to underground all overhead utilities within project limits.

This segment of Grove Street runs parallel to the Class I Foss Creek Pathway, and the city’s Bike and Pedestrian Plan calls for Class III bike route within project limits. The design process will consider "Share-the-Lane" legends and signs, or if segments of Class II bike lanes are warranted or feasible based on the available width for traffic lanes.

The Foss Creek Pathway is the key north-south bike and pedestrian route through the city, and the intersection of Grove Street with the Foss Creek Path entrance will receive special consideration. Possible design elements may include a bike box on Grove Street and/or pedestrian-actuated signalization to improve safety.

Underground water and wastewater facilities within the plan area were recently upgraded and are in good condition.

Stormwater facilities will be improved as needed to accommodate the LID features and added curb and gutter.

View excerpts from the 80-page Grove Street Neighborhood Plan (16 pages).

See the complete document.