Category Archives: Transportation

Articles, Community News, Infrastructure, Transportation

Del Norte’s Friendship With Rikuzentakata May Influence Last Chance Grade Tunnel Project

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Thumbnail photo: Jaime Matteoli, Caltrans’ Last Chance Grade corridor manager, and Caltrans District 1 Director Matt Brady visit with Japan’s Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism during a recent visit. | Photo courtesy of Chris Howard. Above: Caltrans chose a 1-mile long tunnel out of several alternatives for rerouting U.S. 101 around the slide at Last Chance Grade. | Image courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Jaime Matteoli returned from his Japan trip excited about the ongoing collaboration he hopes to have with his counterparts at that country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Matteoli said he hopes to gain some wisdom from the lessons his colleagues across the Pacific have learned as Caltrans begins refining its design for the 1-mile long tunnel at the Last Chance Grade landslide south of Crescent City.

But he called the trip special for another reason: The Japanese people still remember the role a handful of Del Norte High School students played in bringing a 20-foot fishing vessel home to Rikuzentakata two years after the 2011 tsunami.

“To stand by Kamome and visit the site of Rikuzentakata — it was on our way past the tunnel project in the Sanriku expressway — I felt proud of our community, proud of the youth,” Matteoli told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday. “It all started with young people providing an act of kindness to the people of Japan. We heard from many people, including the vice minister of MLIT, who expressed gratitude for their support.”

Continue reading Del Norte’s Friendship With Rikuzentakata May Influence Last Chance Grade Tunnel Project →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Crescent City Seeks Caltrans Grant To Tame U.S. 101 ‘Concrete Jungle’

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Thumbnail: Crescent City is pursuing a Caltrans grant that would make its highway corridor safer for all modes of transportation and tie its downtown area to the Crescent City Harbor. | Screenshot

As Crescent City focuses on revitalizing its downtown, City Manager Eric Wier asked councilors to give a thought to the highway corridor.

Describing M and L streets as a hardscape dominated by pavement, sidewalks and buildings, Wier urged councilors to pursue a Caltrans grant aimed at addressing all modes of transportation. He envisioned more greenery, possibly reducing the number of lanes on the northbound side and building wider sidewalks in order to reduce the amount of highway someone has to cross to get to Safeway.

“A big part of the experience when you come into Crescent City is that highway corridor,” Wier said. “It is the downtown, but it’s not really part of the downtown. You have Caltrans and highway facilities coming through there so it really does need its own plan.”

Continue reading Crescent City Seeks Caltrans Grant To Tame U.S. 101 ‘Concrete Jungle’ →
Articles, Environment, Infrastructure, Transportation

Dean Wilson Proposes Mitigation Exemptions For Counties With Vast Swaths of Public Lands

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Thumbnail image: Dean Wilson mentioned a tunnel project around Last Chance Grade south of Crescent City as a potential project that would require Caltrans with mitigation requirements. | Image courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Five months after his colleague suggested banking county properties for mitigation purposes, District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson said he’s searching for someone who can propose legislation that would exempt counties like Del Norte from that requirement.

Wilson said Wednesday that his proposed legislation would apply to Del Norte County and others that house vast swaths of public and tribal lands. To illustrate why a mitigation exemption is critical to Del Norte, he pointed to two impending projects on U.S. 101 — the tunnel bypass around Last Chance Grade and efforts to protect the highway from sea level rise near South Beach.

Wilson also mentioned a runway safety project the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority completed about 12 years ago. In that situation, the requirement came from the California Coastal Commission. And while the BCRAA spearheaded the project, it fell to the county to find the land to meet those mitigation requirements.

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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, Health, Infrastructure, Transportation

Transportation Commission Kicks In Funding For Road Improvements Related To Homeless Shelter

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Thumbnail image courtesy of the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services

Transportation commissioners provided support for two Del Norte County projects on Tuesday, including one associated with its emergency homeless shelter and micro village campus.

The Del Norte Local Transportation Commission awarded a total of $572,240 to Del Norte County for the Williams Drive Access Improvement for Vulnerable Road Users Project. According to the DNLTC’s staff report, $492,240 is coming from Regional Surface Transportation Program funding and $80,000 is coming from Transportation Development Act dollars.

Del Norte received two Highway Safety Improvement Program grants totaling $441,260, but the estimated project cost is more than $1 million, Assistant County Engineer Rosanna Bower said in a Sept. 22 letter to the commission. The $572,240 funding shortfall includes a required local match for the two grants of $49,030, she said.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Transportation

Federal Subsidy Del Norte, Curry Relies On For Air Service Is Extended Till Nov. 18, U.S. DOT Says

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Border Coast Regional Airport Authority

The federal subsidy that allows Advanced Air to serve Del Norte and Curry counties will continue through Nov. 18.

If the federal government shutdown extends beyond Nov. 18, the U.S. Department of Transportation states it will “provide notice to air carriers and communities” in advance, according to a Wednesday notice.

“We’re at the mercy of the system at this point,” Border Coast Regional Airport Authority Director Sean Rosenthal told Redwood Voice Community News. “It’s kind of like starting all over again from the last notice.”

Continue reading Federal Subsidy Del Norte, Curry Relies On For Air Service Is Extended Till Nov. 18, U.S. DOT Says →
Articles, Economy, Transportation

Advanced Air Will Fly As Long As It Can If Shutdown Continues Beyond Nov. 2; No Word Yet On Future of EAS Program, Airport Director Says

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

The airline serving Del Norte and Curry counties says it will continue to operate for as long as it can beyond Nov. 2 even if funding for the Essential Air Service program isn’t renewed.

The federal subsidy the community relies on for commercial air service would have been suspended earlier this month if the U.S. Department of Transportation hadn’t secured funding to keep it going through Nov. 2. 

However, with that deadline a little more than a week away, Sean Rosenthal, director of the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority, said he’s yet to receive an update on the program’s status.

Continue reading Advanced Air Will Fly As Long As It Can If Shutdown Continues Beyond Nov. 2; No Word Yet On Future of EAS Program, Airport Director Says →
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, Brookings, Curry, Economy, Infrastructure, Transportation, Tribal Affairs

US DOT Secures Funding to Keep EAS Service Going Till November; Local Airport Authority Still Assessing ‘Best Options’

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Though the federal government shutdown continues, the U.S. Department of Transportation granted a reprieve that will allow commercial air service in Del Norte County to continue through November.

In a notice Border Coast Regional Airport Authority Director Sean Rosenthal said he received Wednesday morning, the DOT stated that it has secured additional funding to support both the Essential Air Service and Alternative Essential Air Service programs. As a result, air carriers and communities receiving those subsidies must continue to fulfill their obligations “until such time as the Department notifies them otherwise.”

According to the notice, carriers who serve rural communities under the Essential Air Service — including Advanced Air, which flies from Crescent City to Oakland and to Southern California  — will be able to provide service through Nov. 2.

Continue reading US DOT Secures Funding to Keep EAS Service Going Till November; Local Airport Authority Still Assessing ‘Best Options’ →
Articles, Curry, Economy, Local Government, Transportation

Government Shutdown Threatens Commercial Air Service In Del Norte, Curry Counties

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Border Coast Regional Airport Authority

A day after finding out that commercial air service to Del Norte County may be a casualty of the federal government shutdown, Sean Rosenthal says he’s still searching for answers.

Less than two months after the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority hired him as airport director, Rosenthal said the U.S. Department of Transportation notified him on Monday that if the government shutdown continues, Alternative Essential Air Service funding will end Sunday. 

In an email to BCRAA members Tuesday morning, he said he had hoped to have some information to share, but he’s still working to “fully understand the impact this situation will have on us.”

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