Four Roads in Humboldt and Mendocino Get Funding for Improvements

A previous resurfacing project under SB1 near Covelo.

A previous resurfacing project under SB1 near Covelo. [Photo from Caltrans]

Press release from Caltrans:

Caltrans announced [this week] that the California Transportation Commission allocated $669 million for more than 100 projects, funded by or at least partly by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

“This allocation builds on a year of funding approvals that have allowed us to move more than $15 billion worth of projects forward,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “So far Caltrans has completed 53 SB 1 projects, a number anticipated to grow to 100 by December 31, with more on the horizon in 2019.”

More than 50 projects were allocated funds that will bring goods to market faster, help relieve traffic in our most congested cities, and provide additional funding on transportation investments that counties have made in their own communities.

Area projects completed with SB 1 funds include:

  • Pavement Project on State Route 162 in Mendocino County: $3 million pavement project improved 8.2 lane miles of State Route 162 from west of Grist Creek Bridge to west of Mill Creek Bridge near Covelo in Mendocino County.
  • Pavement Project on U.S. Highway 101 in Humboldt County: $3.9 million pavement project improved 23.2 lane miles of U.S. Highway 101 from north of Boyes Creek Viaduct to north of Prairie Creek Park Undercrossing in Humboldt County.
  • Bridge Project on U.S. Highway 101 in Humboldt County: $2.9 million bridge project revamped 12 bridges on U.S. Highway 101 in Humboldt County.
  • Striping Project on U.S. Highway 101 and State Route 254 in Mendocino and Humboldt Counties: $3.8 million project widened striping and increased visibility on 371 lane miles of U.S. Highway 101 from the Sonoma/Mendocino County line to north of Myers Flat Separation (US-101/State Route 254) in the counties of Mendocino and Humboldt.

Attached is the complete list of projects that were allocated SB 1 funds at the meeting.

Many of the projects receiving allocations are part of the State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP), which is the state highway system’s “fix-it-first” program that funds safety improvements, emergency repairs, highway preservation and some operational highway improvements. While funding for this program is a mixture of federal and state funds, a significant portion comes from SB 1.

In the last year, Caltrans crews have repaired more than 2,900 potholes, replaced or repaired more than 740 lane miles of pavement, repaired more than 37,500 feet of guardrail, replaced or repaired nearly 950 highway lights and traffic signals, restriped more than 2,000 miles of highway to improve visibility and safety, and fixed 800 roadway signs.

To date, along with the 53 projects completed, Caltrans has awarded or started construction on 90 projects and has begun work, including design and environmental clearance on 357 projects.

At the meeting, the Commission also approved Caltrans’ Annual Efficiencies report which details how the department will achieve more than $130 million in savings.

SB 1, the landmark transportation infrastructure bill signed by Governor Brown in April 2017, invests $54 billion over the next decade to fix roads, freeways and bridges in communities across California and puts more dollars toward transit and safety. These funds are split equally between state and local investments to enable Caltrans to fix more than 17,000 lane miles of pavement, 500 bridges and 55,000 culverts by 2027.

More information and updates on projects can be found on Caltrans’ social media http://www.dot.ca.gov/paffairs/social-media.html.

Caltrans is committed to conducting its business in a fully transparent manner and detailing its progress to the public. For complete details on SB 1, visit http://www.rebuildingca.ca.gov/.

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The Hermit of Grizzly Mountain
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The Hermit of Grizzly Mountain
5 years ago

They forgot to include Bell Springs Road. Sigh.

localwoman
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localwoman
5 years ago

That was what i was looking for, Bellsprings rd. is bad. Take our weed money and give us nothing back….

Humboldt
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Humboldt
5 years ago
Reply to  localwoman

Is Bell Springs road a California highway?

Ben Round
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Ben Round
5 years ago

Appreciate that our roads are well kept. But CalTrans, like the CA prison system, remains an unchallenged bloated agency.
And THIS IS JUST ANOTHER PR PIECE TO TRY TO BLUNT THE BALLOT PROPOSITION TO ROLL BACK THE GAS TAX.
I don’t yet have a position on the initiative but don’t like CalTrans using tax payer dollars to put out ‘articles/info’ and all those road signs we are seeing now (‘Tax funded road repairs….’) deliberately meant to influence voters. That is a CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND AKIN TO PROPAGANDA.

Mike
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Mike
5 years ago
Reply to  Ben Round

Propaganda might be a strong word but I feel puff piece is not too strong a term. I think it is nothing short of shameful how many times I have read SB1, not just here. If you have to constantly remind people what a tax is doing for them then the odds are that it isn’t doing a [edit] thing.

Hick
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Hick
5 years ago

We are very dependent on our roads. Wish they figure out way to fix Last Chance grade, before it goes slip slid’n away!

antichrist
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antichrist
5 years ago
Reply to  Hick

well if you know how to stop the tides and waves ,then please by all means but truth of it is last chance grade needs to be moved east which means logging a few redwoods …… road or trees ….. or a couple billion yes with a b to drill down into solid rock and pour concrete retaining walls along with drainage systems that should take around 12 years to build thats after all permits are approved which should hold it for about 30 years but by then the road will be unsafe as to the undersized lanes.

neighbor
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neighbor
5 years ago

Elk creek road will be getting serious work done soon. The county applied for help through FEMA and it was approved. County surveyors came out this week to look at the “landslide area” about a mile up from Avenue of the Giants. TheY will be tearing up the road to fix the culvert that no longer works. My guess is this project will take some time. Get ready for traffic delays on elk creek road. I attached a photo of the buried culvert. Hopefully that helps people understand the severity of this current situation.

THC
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THC
5 years ago

Aren’t all Road repairs in California funded by tax money? I guess it’s a good thing Californians pay the highest tax in America, that’s why we have the nicest roads, oh wait…

Mattole
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Mattole
5 years ago

We’re the 2900 pot holes on mattole road lol

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

The State always wants money to spend on new and, to them interesting, projects. They constantly are short so they take money out of funding meant for that most boring function of government- maintenance. Legislators want to “make a difference.” That means they want to do things that changes the world. Maintenance? Well no one ever writes their Congressman to praise the road work that inconvenience them on the way to work. No one ever runs their reelection campaign on “I kept pot holes from happening!”

The result is the State saddles itself with ever more laws needing funding. It takes the money that should go first to the unglamorous work of paying for what we already have. Then, when the lack of maintenance finally become critical, the State announce they need more money, offer a proposal for more taxes to “meet out critical needs” which would not have become critical had they done their job without needed to have their egos massaged.

Existing taxes go up automatically all the time. Property values go up and each new house brings in more while those not sold go up too. Sales taxes are not only increased by law but, as goods go up, the State gets more. Bonds get added to the tax bill. The excise tax on gas went up but guess what? More is wanted.

It helps to understand the song and dance if, instead of thinking as the State puts it, that billions of dollars are going to fix our roads, you think that billions of dollars will be taken from you in addition to the billions that were already taken but were not spent for the purpose they were supposed to cover. The government, unlike a person who does the suffering and learns for failing to plan for maintenance, just takes more without having learned a thing.

So while I’d love to get roads fixed, I’m not going to suffer more extortion from a government that simply will not discipline itself. They will not do the unlovely work of government any better once they slap enough paint over the problems that the populace quiets down.