Traffic is the local issue that weighs most heavily on the minds of St. Helena citizens, according to early data-gathering efforts by the city's general plan update steering committee.

The data has been gathered through drop boxes at city hall, the library, Taylor's Refresher, and the Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company, as well as during outreach events at the Farmers Market and a concert at Lyman Park. Though relatively few participants have given their feedback, the data gives a rough sketch of residents' priorities.

In an exercise that required participants to allocate a limited amount of funds for various community services, 25 percent of the "wine bucks" were spent on traffic improvements, followed by habitat (16 percent), housing (14 percent), parks and recreation (11 percent), utilities (10 percent), flood control (9 percent), police and fire (5 percent), tourism services (3 percent) and miscellaneous (3 percent).

Determining what St. Helenans want done about traffic will require more research. In write-in responses from the Farmers Market, there was strong support for keeping traffic on Main Street, and several residents emphasized biking.

More statistically significant data won't be available until the results of the city's phone survey, completed July 7, are unveiled at the steering committee's Aug. 8 meeting.

Planners manned a booth outside the St. Helena Catholic Church to get input from Spanish-speaking residents. The committee also plans to hold an open house-style public forum in September. Comments may also be submitted via the general plan update Web site, www.sthelena2030.com, which came online last week.