Map courtesy of Caltrans District 1
Residents living in the Hiouchi, Gasquet and Patrick Creek areas say there hasn’t been enough public outreach to allay concerns about the long-awaited effort to bring State Route 197 and U.S. 199 up to federal trucking standards.
Caltrans is expecting to start bringing in equipment and putting up construction signs as early as May 11, 197/199 Safe STAA Access Project Manager Izzy Konopa told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.
But Kiley Hudson, who purchased property in the Washington Flat area north of Patrick Creek Lodge with her partner James about a month ago, said the last time there was a significant public comment period on the project was in 2010.
“We just found out about this project they’ve been trying to push for 20 years,” Hudson said. “A lot of the community is either in the dark or they haven’t had the opportunity to express their concerns.”
Caltrans is moving forward with construction on the 197/199 Safe STAA Access Project nearly three years after a federal judge lifted an injunction that stalled the effort for more than a decade. In August, the California Transportation Commission allocated $51 million toward the project
The Safe STAA Access Project aims to provide safer passage for trucks meeting the 1982 federal Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) standard.
The project 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.
The agency had completed a state and federal environmental review that included a formal public notice and review period in 2013, according to Caltrans Public Information Officer Myles Cochrane. That environmental review period included a public scoping meeting that was held in 2008 and another public meeting held on July 13, 2010.
In 2014, however, Friends of Del Norte, the Environmental Protection Information Center, or EPIC, and the Center for Biological Diversity won a preliminary injunction that stalled the project. The three conservation groups questioned the adequacy of the environmental review process Caltrans and the National Marine Fisheries Service had conducted.
The state and federal agencies conducted a new biological assessment in 2017 that considered potential impacts to both the Smith River and Rogue River basins. A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for Northern California lifted the injunction in September 2023.
Lupe Gutierrez, District 3 candidate for the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and North Bank Road resident, noted that the community has changed since that last meeting in 2010. There are newcomers in the area who haven’t been informed enough about the project and they haven’t had a chance to air their concerns, she said.
Gutierrez, who also owns a couple of apartments in Gasquet, said she and other residents feel like no one is listening to them.
“I can tell you from my personal experience, that people come around this particular corner in a very unsafe manner,” she said. “And one thing they often do with the big trucks is they screech through here. They’re coming to a corner where they have to brake and there’s no signage whatsoever to give them the idea, ‘let’s brake.’”
Hoping to raise more awareness — and to let local leaders know that she and other residents have concerns — Gutierrez created a change.org petition on Wednesday. The petition aims to establish a formal public comment period.
In addition to potential noise impacts, the petition points to an increased risk of severe landslides following the Smith River Complex wildfire in 2023.
According to the petition, residents worry that “the proposed plan of blast removal” in the area during construction would contribute to that instability. They say that the environmental review conducted doesn’t adequately address impacts the project would have on the root systems of old-growth redwoods on State Route 197.
The change.org petition also mentioned an asphalt spill that occurred on U.S. 199 in April 2022. That incident involved a semi towing a 2001 Freightliner 3-axle trailer. The Klamath man operating the truck was charged with DUI and hit and run.
“The proposed project would increase access for similar transport vehicles, thereby increasing the risk of future environmental hazards,” Gutierrez’s petition states.
Noting that construction for the STAA 197/199 project will involve four-hour highway closures tentatively scheduled Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Konopa said Caltrans will post regular updates on social media.
The agency will also inform the public via local radio stations, the press and the Del Norte Office of Emergency Services. Caltrans is also working with the Oregon Department of Transportation.
However, while there aren’t any formal town hall meetings planned, Konopa said he has been communicating with a group of residents living on U.S. 199 to try to answer their questions.
“That’s the sort of approach we’re taking right now is (if) there are any individual questions or even from a group, we want to interact with them to make sure they’re getting their concerns and comments addressed and heard,” he said.
Though the project is expected to be completed in late 2029, the four-hour closures will last for about a year, according to the most recent Caltrans update. The project’s exact start date and road closure details will be shared with the public once the schedule is finalized.
