Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Friday, April 26 @ 4:37 p.m. / Community, Economy, Infrastructure
Transportation Officials Use Del Norte Economic Summit to Highlight Accomplishments, Progress Of Current and Future Projects
Caltrans anticipates doing demolition work on the Dr. Fine Bridge this summer, officials said at Friday's economic summit. | Jessica C. Andrews
Noting that “large projects take decades,” Del Norte Local Transportation Commission’s executive director said the public will see safety improvements on U.S. 199 take shape soon.
Those projects include a roundabout on U.S. 199 at Elk Valley Cross Road, a curve realignment project and the long-awaited STAA 197/199 project, according to Tamera Leighton.
“There are many boards in this room who have held together since 2008 when our improvements on U.S. 199 were originally funded by Caltrans,” she said Friday. “It was programmed in 2008 and this project got hung up in litigation for about a decade and the courts ruled in our favor. Part of the reason is because our community time and time again at all of our boards voted yes for this project.”
Speaking at the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce’s annual economic summit, Leighton was joined by Caltrans District 1 officials Richard Mullen and Brandon Larson drew on its theme “The Future Is Now.”
In addition to the U.S. 199 improvements, they discussed the Dr. Fine Bridge replacement, installing a left turn lane into Smith River’s Dollar General store and getting the Last Chance Grade bypass project through the permitting phase.
Caltrans and the Local Transportation Commission are also partnering with Elk Valley Rancheria and the Crescent City Harbor District to pursue a study focusing on sea level rise and its impacts on U.S. 101.
Crista Stewart, Elk Valley Rancheria’s chief operations officer, pointed out when winter storm surge drives debris onto U.S. 101 traffic is often diverted through residential neighborhoods.
“For those that have children and live up by this area, you can see the heavy traffic, the heavy trucks, that come in through here,” Stewart said. “It creates a really dangerous situation.”
According to Leighton, the South Beach Climate Resilience Plan will include U.S. 101 as well as Anchor Way in the Crescent City Harbor. She noted that there on average there are 6,000 to 7,000 cars traveling the highway every day. While Caltrans owns and operates the state highway system, when U.S. 101 is closed, that traffic becomes a local problem.
Leighton told economic summit attendees to stay tuned for community meetings both at Elk Valley Rancheria and the harbor.
Meanwhile, Mullen, deputy director for Caltrans District 1, said the STAA 197/199 project is scheduled to be delivered by next year, likely in June 2025.
Spearheaded by Caltrans and funded since 2008, the $34 million project aims to provide safer passage for trucks meeting the 1982 federal Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) standard. It includes widening three curves on U.S. 199 and replacing a bridge that was built in 1924. It also consists of widening two curves near Ruby Van Deventer Park on State Route 197, known to Del Norters as North Bank Road.
Debris litters U.S. 101 near South Beach following a Jan. 5, 2023 storm. | Photo courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District
Despite being funded, the project was delayed when Friends of Del Norte, EPIC and the Center for Biological Diversity challenged the project in court, winning a preliminary injunction that halted the project in 2014. They argued that the STAA 197/199 project would increase the number of larger trucks in the corridor, which wends its way alongside the Smith River, the source of Crescent City’s drinking water.
A federal judge in 2023 ruled against the plaintiffs, allowing the project to proceed.
On Friday, Mullen said Caltrans would likely advertise the project some time in late spring or early summer.
“… which is huge,” he said. “That’s been a long time coming.”
Another highly visible project is the Dr. Fine Bridge replacement over the Smith River. Mullen said Caltrans should be able to have both lanes open to traffic over the new bridge by the end of 2025, but there’s a lot of risk. Work in the Smith River cchannel can’t begin until June 15 and then workers must be out of the channelb y Oct. 15, Mullen said.
“There’s a short window to do the pier work for the new bridge [and] everything has to go right,” he said. “There’s environmental constraints that we need to adhere to and if any one goes wrong, it can set [the project] back months. Keep your fingerscrossed.”
If there are any delays to the Dr. Fine Bridge project, Mullen said, Caltrans would let the Local Transportation Commission know.
Demolition on the bridge is expected to start this summer. And, while there won’t be long delays, there may be some, Mullen said.
In response to a question from chamber director Cindy Vosburg, Larson, Caltrans District 1’s deputy director for planning and local assistance, said the goal is ot minimize the impact to the river while removing the old bridge and putting the new one in.
“Part of the requirements is going to be how are we making sure the structure is taken out in such a way that it doesn’t fall into the river,” he said. “We got to pull out those old piles that are in the river and make sure those don’t remain for people using hte river and also because it causes scour and other issues for the new structure going in.”
Much of the work will occur when the river is low, Larson said.
Further north into the community of Smith River is the left turn lane from U.S. 101 onto Timbers Boulevard near the Dollar General store. According to Leighton, that project will start construction in 2026.
The project would include a left turn lane pocket, a right turn lane and potential widening near U.S. 101 and Timbers Boulevard, Caltrans spokesman Myles Cochrane told the Wild Rivers Outpost when the agency began pursuing funding for the project. Safety and congestion in the area had been a concern since the store open in 2016.
Between June 2015 and December 2020, there had been seven collisions at that intersection, according to California Highway Patrol data. One collision in January 2020 resulted in the death of a 37-year-old pedestrian.
Larson credited the department’s work with the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation to deliver the Timbers Boulevard project.
“Our department is mostly focusing nowadays on community involvement — what are we going to deliver that’s going to benefit the community [and] working with the community, working with our tribal partners and working with our stakeholders,” he said. “It’s vital that we’re delivering the right projects for the communities we work in.”
When they took questions from the audience, Mary Wilson, whose husband is District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson and whose family owns Ocean World, was concerned about Google redirecting traffic away from U.S. 101 and Crescent City.
“I live on Parkway [Drive] and we often come off 199 and there are many cars in front of us with out-of-state license plates that are turning either on Parkway or down Elk Valley and cutting over Elk Valley completely bypassing Crescent City,” she said. “I’m wondering if you had any numbers on how that’s affecting the ability to capture extra income for economic development.”
Leighton said though she didn’t have those numbers in hand, Del Norte County Engineer Jon Olson has been communicating with Google to “make it stop.” The goal is to get Google to correct their directions so people who aren’t familiar with the area aren’t directed through local neighborhoods on their way through the area, she said.
Vosburg said her organization has been communicating with Google for more than four years about how they direct traffic as well.
“Maybe we could reach out to Jon to see if we can combine forces,” she said.
Leighton said the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission is seeking public input about the South Beach Climate Resilience Plan. To participate in a community survey, click here. The website will also provide updates as the project progresses.
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