Category Archives: Gasquet

Articles, Gasquet, Infrastructure, Smith River, Transportation

Caltrans May Use Bollards As Visual Incentive To Reduce Speeding on 199; Pedestrian Killed After Being Struck By Car On Oct. 26, CHP Reports

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Thumbnail Photo by Akampfer via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License.

A month after California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1014 into law, the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission’s Tamera Leighton said Caltrans is working on a more visible incentive to get people to slow down on U.S. 199.

During a U.S. 199/197 safety update at Tuesday’s DNLTC meeting, Leighton, the agency’s executive director, said that Caltrans is eager to move forward on the use of traffic bollards to discourage unsafe passing in Gasquet. The regional transportation planning agency will also be conducting outreach in Hiouchi to gauge community opinion on a similar project, she said.

During her update, however, Leighton told commissioners that she and District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, who represents Gasquet and Hiouchi, are running into roadblocks when it comes to receiving information about collisions in the area from the California Highway Patrol. She characterized it as a misunderstanding and pointed to a recent fatality that occurred on U.S. 199 as an example.

Continue reading Caltrans May Use Bollards As Visual Incentive To Reduce Speeding on 199; Pedestrian Killed After Being Struck By Car On Oct. 26, CHP Reports →
Articles, Community News, Gasquet, Smith River, Transportation

Del Norte-Sponsored Traffic Calming Bill Nets Governor’s Signature; New Law Would Increase Safety in Hiouchi, Gasquet, Smith River, Howard Says

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Thumbnail photo: District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard said that newly-enacted AB 1014 will increase safety in Smith River, Gasquet and Hiouchi. | Photo by Akampfer via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License.

A Del Norte County-sponsored assembly bill that aims to tame traffic speeding through rural communities gained the California governor’s signature earlier this month.

District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard on Tuesday thanked Assemblyman Chris Rogers for taking Assembly Bill 1014 through the legislative process and before Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed it into law on Oct. 3. 

Howard also urged his constituents to look toward a pilot project taking place in Orick, which involves crews putting up “large flexible cones” in the center turn lane to prevent people from using it to pass slower vehicles. 

“That’s exactly what we’re seeing in the townsite of Gasquet also,” he said. “People come into the town of Gasquet off the four-lane stretch (of U.S. 199). They’re doing 65-plus mph and they hit slow traffic and they want to pass people in the middle of the lane.”

Continue reading Del Norte-Sponsored Traffic Calming Bill Nets Governor’s Signature; New Law Would Increase Safety in Hiouchi, Gasquet, Smith River, Howard Says →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Environment, Gasquet, Humboldt, Klamath, Smith River

Threat Assessment: Trump Administration V. Redwoods

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Assistant superintendent for the Redwood State and National Parks: Shelana DeSilva

Lavina Brooks, a Yurok tribal member, elder, and descendant of the Karuk and Tolowa people posed a pointed question to the panel of Redwood Park conservationists hosted by the local Democratic committee at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds over the weekend.

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“I want to know: From your perspective — or if you’re allowed to give your perspective — how big a threat is the current administration to the parks in Del Norte and Humboldt County.”

Brooks’ question articulated a sentiment present in many minds. The redwood forests of this region are home to some of the oldest and tallest trees on the planet. Human beings have a long and passionately protective history with this particular classification of tree, including as a UNESCO World Heritage site — the designation for places on Earth that are recognized as having outstanding universal value to humanity, and have been inscribed to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

On March 1, the Trump administration issued an executive order titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” that set a lot of tree-huggers on edge.

Shelana DeSilva, assistant superintendent for the Redwood State and National Parks, stood up from the table and came forward with the mic.

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