Category Archives: Transportation

Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Airport Authority Discusses Projects List, FAA Funding and Fuel Farm Rehabilitation

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Thumbnail photo: Inside the Del Norte County Regional Airport terminal. Photo by James Brooks

Sean Rosenthal unveiled a five-year list of capital improvement projects he said may be eligible for $15.5 million in federal funding.

But, while the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority would be responsible for a 5% local match for most projects, things are different for a long-awaited rehabilitation of a fuel farm at Jack McNamara Field, the airport authority director told commissioners Thursday.

About $600,000 in Airport Infrastructure Grant dollars are available for the fuel farm project, Rosenthal said. Though the total estimated cost for the project is $1.2 million, the airport director told commissioners that figure isn’t finalized. Still, BCRAA will be responsible for figuring out how to pay for what the AIG grant doesn’t cover, he said.

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Transportation

Transportation Commission Pitches Helps Crescent City Seek Funding For U.S. 101 Plan

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As the second phase of its downtown revitalization plan takes shape, Crescent City is now eyeing U.S. 101.

The city is pursuing a Caltrans Partnership Planning Grant to complete its U.S. Highway 101 Multimodal Land Use Plan with help from the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission.

The land-use plan for the highway corridor will analyze motorized and non motorized uses between Wilson Avenue and Anchor Way, Crescent City Manager Eric Wier told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Transportation

Transportation Commission Discusses Traffic Management Ahead Of STAA 197/199 Highway Closures

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Thumbnail photo: Work has already begun on the 197/199 Safe STAA Access project, particularly on State Route 197 and on U.S. 199 near the Patrick Creek Narrows. | Photo courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Though Caltrans pushed its plans to close parts of the highway for the 197/199 Safe STAA Access project back to January, Tamera Leighton went back to 2021 and the landslide at Last Chance Grade when thinking about how to manage traffic.

Leighton, executive director of the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission, mentioned the queue of cars that would form near South Beach and proceeded down U.S. 101 when the highway reopened at specific times to traffic.

In January, when Caltrans starts work on U.S. 199 in the narrows and has to close the road for hours at a time, Leighton said cars could queue up at the east end of the four-lane freeway past Gasquet.

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Education, Transportation

New Transportation Director Describes Smooth Start To School Year

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Jenna Lussier raved about her bus drivers and staff.

Four days after students returned to class, the new transportation director told Del Norte Unified School District trustees that her staff has been working extra time to make sure Klamath students are picked up. She also mentioned special efforts being made for youngsters at Redwood and Pine Grove schools.

“We are working diligently to get our children where they need to go,” Lussier said. “We had a couple of hiccups, but I think today those hiccups have been resolved…. I just want to thank my drivers because they’re making it awesome.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government, Transportation

Crescent City Harbor District Recap, Aug. 26, 2026

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Harbor commissioners received a report on the structural conditions of several structures including the former Fashion Blacksmith building on Starfish Way. | Photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Commission Annie Nehmer was absent. Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting.

Infrastructure Assessment: Promising a more formal presentation at CCHD’s Sept. 16 meeting, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker introduced commissioners to GHD’s structural condition assessment of several of the buildings at the port. 

“It does identify a lot of the challenges that we’re facing trying to rehab these buildings and come up with funding,” Rademaker said. “But fortunately we’ve got some investment from some other companies, such as Ocean Gold, that are going to help us address some of these infrastructure challenges.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

(UPDATED) Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Set To Enter Final Design Phase With In-Water Construction Scheduled to Start July 1, 2027

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Updated at 1:15 p.m. Monday to clarify items regarding how long Kimley-Horn has been working with CCHD and to add more information regarding their proposal.

Nearly three months Two months after becoming project manager for the federally-funded seawall replacement and Citizens Dock rebuild, Kimley-Horn representatives say Sept. 23 is the “kickoff date” for the endeavor’s final design phase.

After that Sept. 23 “kick off meeting,” Kimley-Horn will be vetting contractors and ensuring the project has the permits needed for in-water construction to begin by July 1, 2027, said Jerry Holcomb, an engineer who focuses on ports, maritime and waterfront projects for the firm.

“As project manager, the thing we’re going to try and make sure everybody understands is, kind of working back from that date, how do we make sure we’ve got the bids in place.” Holcomb told Crescent City Harbor Commissioners on Wednesday. “How do we make sure that we’ve got the contractor already mobilized … so they’re there ready to start on Day One.”

Continue reading (UPDATED) Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Set To Enter Final Design Phase With In-Water Construction Scheduled to Start July 1, 2027 →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Del Norte Supervisors Appoint Gerry Hemmingsen to Airport Board’s Public Member Seat; JPA Voted For Someone Else

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Four Del Norte County supervisors on Tuesday chose their former colleague, Gerry Hemmingsen, over Cal-Ore Life Flight employee Mark Weaver to serve on the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority’s governing body.

Their action ran counter to a 5-3 vote BCRAA commissioners took after multiple split decisions on Aug. 6 to appoint Weaver to Del Norte’s third seat on the joint powers authority with Hemmingsen serving as his alternate. 

According to District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, who sits on the BCRAA Board with District 1 representative Darrin Short, there currently isn’t a mechanism for the JPA’s public member to have an alternate. 

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Articles, Economy, Infrastructure, Transportation

Starkey, Howard Urge Local Advocacy As Last Chance Grade Project Enters Design Phase; ‘Real Hurdle’ Is Finding $2-Plus Billion For Construction, Starkey Says

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Thumbnail image: Conceptual art of the 1.1 mile-long tunnel that will allow U.S. 101 to avoid the Last Chance Grade landslide area south of Crescent City | Image courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Efforts to re-route U.S. 101 around Last Chance Grade reached a milestone on Friday after the California Transportation Commission approved funding for the project’s design and engineering phase.

But Del Norte County supervisors Chris Howard and Valerie Starkey, who attended the commission’s meeting in San Diego, say local advocacy at the state and federal level is imperative for the 6,000-foot tunnel project to continue to advance toward construction.

“What was interesting about the CTC meeting was when they got to the funding portion of it, the staff member from CTC (said) we’re supporting this, but this is the largest chunk of money we put out for one specific project,” Starkey told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday. “They said we never awarded this much money. We’ve never supported this much money going to just one project, but we understand the importance of it.”

Continue reading Starkey, Howard Urge Local Advocacy As Last Chance Grade Project Enters Design Phase; ‘Real Hurdle’ Is Finding $2-Plus Billion For Construction, Starkey Says →
Articles, Local Government, Transportation

Airport Director Discusses BCRAA’s Reduced 2026-27 Budget, Line Of Credit From Del Norte County

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Two weeks after they extended a line of credit to the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority, Del Norte County supervisors on Tuesday approved an airport authority budget its director said was balanced after “we trimmed and trimmed.”

BCRAA’s 2026-27 budget calls for projected revenues and expenditures of about $6.78 million, down from the $13.73 million the authority’s original 2025-26 budget called for and the $13.74 million that was in its revised budget. 

Fewer grant-funded projects expected this fiscal year is the main reason for the difference, Airport Authority Director Sean Rosenthal told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. Those projects include rehabilitation of Runway 18-36 and the purchase of an airport fire rescue truck, both of which were paid for with Federal Aviation Administration dollars, he said.

“It’s those really large projects that make the airport budget fluctuate so,” he said. “Probably this would be one of the leaner years, but that’s, again, due to the fact that we have less projects than we did last year. The next one will be when we do Runway 12-30 in a few years.”

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Transportation

Front Street’s Completion Is Ahead, Though Motorists Will Have To Contend With A Couple Detours

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Crescent City

Motorists will soon encounter a detour on Front Street near the Cultural Center and on K Street near the Redwood National and State Parks visitors center.

“This coming Monday, a week from today, we’re going to be looking at the closure of Front Street,” City Manager Eric Wier told the City Council on Monday, stating that the storm drain reconstruction project is moving ahead of schedule. “It’s good in the fact that our project is progressing and we’ll be able to get it done this year, but it is going to be an inconvenience. For that, we apologize to the community.”

Front Street will be closed from U.S. 101 to Play Street starting Wednesday, Wier told Redwood Voice Community News. K Street will also be closed between 2nd Street and Front Street. Motorists should expect the closure to last through November.

Continue reading Front Street’s Completion Is Ahead, Though Motorists Will Have To Contend With A Couple Detours →