_{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.”

Transportation commissioners on Friday approved allocating roughly $218.2 million in State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) funds to the Last Chance Grade tunnel bypass project on U.S. 101. According to a Caltrans staff report ahead of the meeting, about $216.9 million will go toward the “plans, specifications and estimate” phase while nearly $1.3 million will be used toward ensuring the project’s right-of-way.

At about 1.1 miles long, the Last Chance Grade tunnel will be the longest and most complex project Caltrans District 1 has ever undertaken, according to a department press release Thursday. 

The bypass around the landslide 10 miles south of Crescent City is expected to cost about $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion to construct. Despite receiving approval for the design and engineering phase from the CTC last week, Caltrans has yet to secure funding to build the tunnel.

On Friday, both Howard and Starkey spoke about the project’s importance. Howard, who represents District 3, focused on the big picture, telling commissioners that before Interstate 5 was finished in 1979, U.S. 101 was the main conduit for getting goods and people from Northern California to the rest of the state.

“The wood from Del Norte County helped build the big cities we know today as San Francisco and Los Angeles,” Howard told Redwood Voice on Monday, summing up his statement to the Transportation Commission. “Wood was flowing out of this region to build those communities and, so, that was critically important.”

Howard also reminded commissioners of the collaborative effort that ensured the proposed tunnel wouldn’t be too impactful to the redwoods Del Norte’s indigenous communities and people worldwide revere.

“It’s important for us to recognize that this project emphasizes protecting those redwoods and protecting that interstate so goods and services can continue to flow to the rest of the State of California,” he told commissioners.

Though he acknowledged the collaborative effort — which includes a stakeholders committee Congressman Jared Huffman established in 2015 as well as input from the area’s tribal communities — Transportation Commissioner Bob Tiffany noted the project’s immense price tag.

Tiffany, who represents rural San Benito County and California’s Central Coast, asked Last Chance Grade Corridor Manager Jaime Matteoli what Caltrans is doing to secure the $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion needed to build the tunnel.

Caltrans has a funding plan in place for the project, Matteoli told Tiffany on Friday. In addition to using SHOPP dollars, the department is searching for other state and federal funding, which includes “all grants that are relevant” as well as non-federal matches and financing options, he said.

One potential grant opportunity, however, didn’t pan out, Matteoli told commissioners.

“We’ve applied for federal grants already for this capital piece (through) the BUILD Grant,” he said, referring to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development program. “We were not successful in that application, but we’re continuing to apply for everything that comes up.”

Matteoli said the combined effort of tribal leaders, local elected officials as well as agency leaders will help secure the money needed to build the project. Still, though he acknowledged the size of the project, Matteoli urged commissioners to advance the design to ensure that it’s competitive.

“The goal is to achieve full funding by 2031,” he said. “Every year that we delay, the construction costs and escalation alone, we estimate that’s $180 million. That’s just escalation. That’s not additional rework, additional environmental studies, and that doesn’t include the sustained exposure to the community from this landslide.”

Caltrans settled on the tunnel option in 2024 as its preferred option of two final alternatives for ensuring U.S. 101 continues to operate. But the department has explored six project alternatives with the community for nearly a decade, though it has recognized the need for a fix for much longer.

On Monday, Starkey said she wanted to show Transportation Commissioners that Del Norte County is a “real community behind the project.” In addition to the Last Chance Grade funding, California Transportation Commissioners also considered two other SHOPP allocations — a $111 million ask for 57 projects and a $160 million request for 53 others, both in other areas of the Golden State.

Noting that the $2.5 billion-$3.5 billion will be the “real hurdle,” Starkey said a comment from Commissioner Lee Ann Eager made her realize how far reaching the Last Chance Grade project is.

On Friday, Eager, CEO of the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation, told her colleagues that about two weeks ago “on the train coming from Oceanside” she sat across from a Del Norte County couple on their way to a Padres game.

“They talked about Last Chance Grade and I said, ‘Oh, I’m a commissioner on the California Transportation Commission,’” Eager said. “They talked personally about what this (project) will mean to them and their neighbors.”

On Monday, Starkey told Redwood Voice that “that’s the kind of advocacy we need.”

“You don’t know who you’re going to be talking to,” she said.