---

---

Wonder Stump Road residents are at odds with county officials over potential improvements to a street they say is one of Del Norte’s unique tourist attractions.

Those living on the road that was once part of the Hobbs Wall rail line are skeptical that potential improvements to a one-way stretch between Yonkers Bridge and U.S. 101 won’t damage a beloved tree tunnel.

County officials say they’re currently gathering public input on potential road improvements and are considering options that are “best for the community and the infrastructure of the road.” While he won’t rule out the necessity of removing one or more of the redwood trees on Wonder Stump, Roads Superintendent Jeff Daniels said the county isn’t cutting all the trees down.

“People I’ve known ever since I was a baby are pretty upset about it and they don’t need to be upset,” Daniels said Tuesday, adding that he would skateboard and bicycle through the tree tunnel. “We’re just looking at the drainage and infrastructure that’s there.”

Though people living on the street know to wait for motorists to pass them, Daniels called Wonder Stump is heavily trafficked and is “not near wide enough” for emergency vehicles, school buses and the volume of traffic that uses it.

According to Daniels, the county is using hand crews to clear the ditch that runs along one side of Wonder Stump. This, he said, is becoming dangerous for the employees climbing in and out of the ditch. The proposed project may head off any potential workman’s compensation claims the county could receive, Daniels said. But the project is still in its infancy, he said.

“The community will definitely have time to voice their opinion or come up and say ‘I have a suggestion,’” Daniels said, adding that he’s hoping to put to rest rumors that the county is cutting down the tree tunnel “to make money.” “That wouldn’t be good. I wouldn’t like that and neither would anybody else.”

Jim Coop, a 30-year resident of Wonder Stump Road, said he doesn’t believe Daniels. He said he and a neighbor had received similar assurances from the Community Development Department after county staff had marked about 100 trees on Wonder Stump. But three weeks ago, Coop said, he spoke with a surveyor working in front of his home.

“I was interested in finding out if he was out surveying property lines,” Coop said Wednesday. “He said, ‘No I’m out here to survey the road… for possible expansion.’ He handed me one of the county’s green cards and he told me this is what it’s about.”

The green card Coop received was a request for comment sent to residents from Community Development Director Heidi Kunstal. In a similar letter to the community Monday, Kunstal said her department is working on a “planning-level document compiling community and stakeholder input” on potential Wonder Stump improvements.

Staff is assessing current conditions, including locating trees, paved surfaces and ditches, according to Kunstal, and plans to develop “conceptual alternatives” by September or October. The county will hold stakeholder meeting for public agencies and utilities and community meetings in November or December, according to Kunstal.

Both will focus on concerns and solutions as well as pros and cons of the “conceptual alternatives,” according to the letter.

After a second set of community and stakeholder meetings, county staff will draft a summary of the feedback and present the document before before the Board of Supervisors in May or June 2020, according to Kunstal.

Rather than go back to the county with his concerns, Coop and his neighbor Donna Eller created a Facebook group, “Save Wonderstump,” on July 12. According to Coop, the group is for neighbors, friends and concerned citizens who “greatly value this road.”

“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to gather alternatives to address what the county (claims) to be concerned about,” he said. “We’re going to really hit them with these alternatives.”

As of Wednesday, the “Save Wonderstump” Facebook group has 512 members.

In addition to stating that it’s no longer safe for county workers to maintain the road while allowing for motorist travel, Kunstal’s letter states that the “oversize one-lane road serving two-way traffic” hinders emergency vehicles and school buses. Trees along the street’s paved surface and shoulders also bear scars from being hit, according to the letter.

“Wonder Stump Road is a major collector that has historically received substantial public input when the slightest hint of a potential modification to the tree canopy or roots have occurred,” Kunstal writes. “Ultimately, a summary of engagement will compile community and stakeholder feedback to assist with the development and implementation of potential improvements.”

Coop said the alternatives he and his neighbors have discussed address the county’s drainage concerns, access for school buses and emergency vehicles and making things safer for two-way traffic.

“We always had one lane,” he said. “All they have to do is put up caution signs to let people who are not familiar with the road be aware that they should yield to oncoming traffic.”

When it comes to drainage on the road, Coop said one of the proposals he and his neighbors have discussed include installing a drainage pipe and paving over it.

As for school buses, Coop said the drivers he spoke with indicating that low-lying tree branches are their biggest concern. Instead of removing the trees entirely, Coop said, county staff could trim the branches — something that would only be required roughly every five years.

Hydrants could solve the access problem for fire engines, Coop said. The main waterline runs right down Wonder Stump, he said.

“If they were to place a few more fire hydrants on the road they wouldn’t have to worry about tankers being able to get out here ‘cause they would have a water supply,” he said.

Mac Eller, Donna’s husband, said his father Clyde Eller, who opened Fort Dick Market, was a county supervisor when he and his colleague Chuck Blackburn took steps to preserve the tree tunnel. Eller said in the 12 years he has lived on it no one has complained about the road.

“I bought my house where it’s at because it’s on the tree tunnel,” he said. “I knew those trees would always be there. They’re not first-growth or anything, but it’s still a unique place for us and the county and for tourists or whomever to experience it.”

Wonder Stump Road came up at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Gerry Hemmingsen, whose district includes the street in question, said a lot of the information that’s going out isn’t true. He asked people to do research and contact the Community Development Department or Roads Division.

Hemmingsen’s colleague, District 2 Supervisor Lori Cowan, echoed his comments, stating that it’s not a widening project, but a drainage issue.

“They’re marking the trees, that’s what’s freaking people out,” Cowan said. “Those trees are not marked to be cut down at all. They’re marking them to understand which ones belong to the county — which ones are in the right-of-way and which ones are … private. That is the only reason they’re being marked.”

Cowan also assured people that the board wouldn’t approve a potential project until next spring or early summer.

When told of their comments at Tuesday’s meeting, Eller said he didn’t believe Cowan or Hemmingsen’s statements that the Wonder Stump project wasn’t about widening the road.

“There’s no issues,” he said. “No reason to do this other than it may be a little cumbersome to clean out that ditch.”

Eller also took issue with Cowan’s statement that county staff were marking trees to determine which ones were in the public right-of-way and which ones were on private property.

“Those belong to the county, there’s no doubt about it. The markers go 20-30 feet beyond the side of the road,” he said. “(The project) directly affects me and my wife and my future. I hope my father passes away before they mow all the trees down.”

For more information about community meetings regarding Wonder Stump Road, email wonderstumproad@dnco.org or call Roads Superintendent Jeff Daniels at (707) 464-7238. To provide input online, visit https://delnortetransportation.commonplace.is or mail a comment to the Community Development Department at 981 H Street, Suite 110; Crescent City, CA 95531.

---

SHARE →