UKIAH, CA., 5/27/26 — The city of Ukiah hosted a virtual workshop Tuesday evening to get feedback from the community on the city’s proposed North State Street improvement project.
The city is proposing to make updates to the stretch of North State Street from Norton Street to Low Gap Road where officials say drivers go too fast, there are too many close calls with pedestrians and vehicles, and the road is bumpy. Changes would include removing a lane on either side and adding a left-turn lane, improving bicycle lanes, updating sidewalks to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, repaving the road and replacing near-century-old utilities below the surface.
Andrew Strickland, senior engineer for the city, gave the bulk of the presentation. Strickland said the city aims to make the portion of North State Street safer for everyone while retaining parking availability and business access.
Shannon Riley, Ukiah’s deputy city manager, led the workshop and facilitated questions from attendees. Riley asked Strickland a question she thought people might be wondering, such as whether or not the city would install bulb-outs, or curb extensions, in the North State Street project area. The downtown area had bulb-outs installed as part of phase one of the downtown streetscape project, completed in 2021.
Strickland explained that the city will consider putting bulb-outs in the project area, but if they do, they will be scaled back in size compared to those downtown, as well as used minimally.
“They are on the table, but they’re definitely something that are looked at more closely than probably anything else, as far as not wanting to make mistakes in that area,” Strickland said.
Part of the project plan is a “road diet,” which in this case would mean making the road more narrow. The project’s plan is to take out a lane on either side of the road. Strickland said this will give more space for both a bike lane and a turning lane. He said the turn lane will improve traffic flow, as cars that need to turn left will be able to get out of the way and cars in the through lane can be continuously moving, which can prevent unsafe lane changes.
Riley backed up Strickland by noting that traffic engineering was done before the city implemented the downtown streetscape, and it showed that the turn lane and one continuous lane on either side was more efficient than two lanes on either side.
“A road diet can actually help a street operate more efficiently,” Riley said.
Strickland noted that a citywide report that was done from the Ukiah Police Department showed a dramatic decrease in traffic collisions of roughly 65% just in the last year, something he said can be heavily attributed to both law enforcement and then the recent roadway improvements that have happened.
Strickland said this area of North State Street is the last remaining section with concrete slabs from the old U.S. Highway 101 that went through town. The slabs make it difficult to access utilities, some of which are nearing 100 years old, he said.
This is the city’s second attempt at getting this project off the ground. In an earlier interview, Riley said the city held a similar workshop in 2024 and had applied for a grant through the Caltrans Active Transportation Program, which aims to increase the use of active modes of transportation in the state. The city didn’t get the grant two years ago, but now they’re trying again for the same grant and the application is due in mid-June, Riley said. The city will use community feedback to shape how they describe the project in their grant application, she said.
About $3 million is generated annually from the 2016’s voter-approved Measure Y, which is a one half of one percent sales tax within Ukiah city limits, but it’s not enough to cover the $10 million the project will cost, Riley said. The Caltrans grant, however, would cover design work and implementation of the project.
Project feedback surveys are available to fill out and submit at any of the businesses from Norton Street to Low Gap Road, the city said.
Praise the lord!
“a road diet can improve efficiency, Riley says… Has she been at either end of the Gobbi to Acott fiasco at peak time or lunch time? There is NOTHING efficient about being in a line that stars at Scott Street continuing to perkins… What a joke
What time is the virtual meeting?
The first paragraph says “hosted”. It’s passed. They will use the info to apply for a grant. There’s nothing in sight yet. You can fill out a survey though: last paragraph.
No bulb outs! Haven’t they learned anything? I’ve heard everyone I know complain about the bulb outs. Stupid
I don’t think these people drive downtown, anymore. I watched not one, but three, people cross the street, 14 feet away, from the curbs and flashing light feature, jay walking, into traffic. There is no safety, when pedestrians, do whatever they want. It’s pointless & a huge waste of money to put in curbs, that no one, uses. The homeless, are taking over parts, of town, that is what needs to be addressed. Unfortunately we live in rough times, and sadly people are giving up, in spirit. Why they take chances or risks walking, in to traffic at unsafe places, is beyond my comprehension. The council, can’t make people change and no matter how “pretty” Ukiah is, there is a lot of sad people, to be seen. I wish things, were all shiny, flowery, and fairytale. I get the intentions. But the roads, in town, show another story. Give the neighborhoods sidewalks, plain safe, sidewalks, in front of citizens houses. That would be for everyone, that lives in Ukiah. Because disabled, and very elderly, live in houses too, not downtown.
It’s easy to say the “road diet improves efficiency” but there might be another metric at play here. Traffic is not reduced by the road diet, but because of it. Many people are simply avoiding going through downtown on State Street, myself included. I especially like changing esthetic of the bulb-out curbs, slowly turning black from all the tire rubs. Good for the alignment shops in town maybe, I’m curious, Has anyone ever had to be towed off one of the bulb-outs?
As a downtown business owner I saw a motor home have to be towed out of a bulb oit. The funniest though was when one of the guys on the construction crew of these bulboits dropped his back wheel in to the bulbout. I snapped a Pic and ppstwd it. His crew died laughing
Road diet is synonymous with a car diet. The downtown is meant for walking and bicycling. This is also the City of Ukiah not Mendocino County. The folks in the city want their streets to be safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Efficiency is a metric for people not the convenience of automobiles. If you don’t like slowing down in downtown, please use the freeway. Ukiah was a walking town long before it became a car town.
That is your opinion. I had a downtown business before and after the new debacle thst is State Street. The foot traffic has not changed… so your take on this is close to simgular
*had a downtown business….
Now, that many of us avoid the downtown area because of the fiasco they created, they’re going to screw up more of the city streets, so frustrated drivers will detour further around the city center.
I heard they’ve been talking about removing mature shade trees downtown. That’ll be great on the 100+ degree summer days. How many more ways can they make the city a place to avoid?
Please use the freeway.
Put in like 4 more stop lights and make sure they’re timed so that you stop at every one, just like Perkins or Gobbi! That seems to be your idea of “calming” traffic by making everyone furious, because takes 10 minutes to get from State St. to 101.