Thumbnail photo by Monique Camarena
Doug Hecox was hard pressed to provide a concrete answer to what kind of federal funding Caltrans can expect when it comes to building the 1.1 mile-long tunnel around Last Chance Grade.
There isn’t an exact price for the tunnel’s construction yet, the Federal Highway Administration’s acting division administrator for California told Del Norters at an Oct. 27 open house. The project just entered its design and geotechnical engineering phase, he said.
And, though Hecox described two potential pots of federal funding, one depends on a highway reauthorization bill Congress was expected to approve but didn’t. The other source came from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Biden-era Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that ran out earlier this month. Still, there are ways to obtain federal funding for a project of this size, Hecox said.
“I promise you there will be something and it probably will be a lot more than we think, I just don’t know what color that money will be,” he said, adding that though the FHWA is partnering with California transportation officials, it’s a Caltrans project. “We have a big loan program for things like this, the Transportation and Infrastructure Funding and Investment Act (TIFIA). It provides loans for gigantic projects like this one and it has a small interest rate, 1% interest rate. It’s a way to safeguard projects like this so they don’t stall waiting for a grant that may never come.”
The panel discussion Hecox took part in at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds came about two months after the California Transportation Commission allocated $218.2 million in State Highway Operation and Protection (SHOPP) funds to the Last Chance Grade tunnel bypass on U.S. 101. About $1.3 million of that funding will be used to secure the project’s right-of-way.
Located about 10 miles south of Crescent City, the tunnel will cut through Redwood National and State Parks, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as tribal lands, Caltrans Last Chance Grade Corridor Manager Jaime Matteoli said. The project includes “approach work” on the south side to get around the landslide as well as an operations and maintenance center, he said.
“Today we’re happy to report that our geotechnical work is on schedule and that means that our overall design phase is on schedule,” Matteoli said, adding that the project approval and environmental document — the legal, scientific and engineering foundation of the project — is finished. “We’ve completed a defensible document because of the world class team we have working on it and the partnerships we have with agencies. That allows us to continue and stay on track here.”
As the project continues through its engineering and geotechnical phase some things may change, Matteoli said. Caltrans is coordinating with the permit agencies to avoid delays to the project later in the process.
The goal is to get the project to construction by 2031, Matteoli said.
“It’s a tunnel close to a landslide in an environmentally sensitive area,” he said. “A normal project, you could design it in two years and begin it in four years, we’re working to meet or beat that, but it’s ambitious.”
Other participants in the panel last week included John Driscoll, field representative for Congressman Jared Huffman, California State Parks’ North Coast Redwoods District Superintendent Victor Bjelajac and Redwood National and State Parks Superintendent Jake Olson.
Del Norte County supervisors Valerie Starkey and Chris Howard also attended as did Heidi McHugh, a representative for Assemblyman Chris Rogers.
Howard, who, along with Starkey, attended the California Transportation Commission’s meeting on Aug. 20-21, said he felt it was important to understand how money flows through the process of getting the tunnel constructed. Howard noted that the CTC doesn’t have an idea of “where this size pot of funds will come from.”
“When you think about what the current estimate of $3 billion represents, it’s over 2/3rds of the entire state budget for these kinds of projects and there’s 57 other counties in the state fighting right now for an equal opportunity of that budget,” Howard said. “When push comes to shove, how this comes to the table will be through a network of advocacy missions that focuses on financial schemes that are important to get this done.”
Hecox expounded on the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant, a BLT of funding pots, including a $1 billion source earmarked for rural projects and as well as another pot that’s meant to ensure the road system is resilient in spite of landslides.
The federal apportionment Congress provides to states for transportation infrastructure — about $5 billion annually for California — is from the Highway Transportation Authorization Bill, which ended on Oct. 1, Hecox said.
Though Congress didn’t approve a new bill this year, it passed an extension to the previous bill that will last through Dec. 11. Once the midterm election is over, Congress is expected to approve another extension to potentially take the Highway Transportation Authorization Bill through the end of the fiscal year.
“(That) would give more stability for all the states, but it would be at the current FY 2026 levels,” he said.
In addition to focusing on the long-term solution, Caltrans is also tasked with keeping the highway open, Matteoli said.
“There are no active emergency projects going on, but at some locations you see some movement of the pavement already with the movement of the landslide,” he said. “Our governor has impressed upon us the need to look ahead and be watchful for this super El Niño that’s coming. Our team, statewide and local, we’re on the watch, looking for any opportunity to improve the resilience of the grade.”
To keep updated on the Last Chance Grade project, click here.
