After 15 Years in Court, Richardson Grove Highway Project Gets Green Light
Richardson Grove [Image from Caltrans]
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced [yesterday] that a project on U.S. Highway 101 in Humboldt County, which will enhance freight movement and improve safety, can move forward after a favorable court ruling.
The California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, affirmed an earlier Humboldt County Superior Court judgment, ruling that the Richardson Grove Improvement Project followed the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The published opinion marks the end of more than 15 years of legal challenges under CEQA and related laws. The court upheld Caltrans’ environmental review and project approvals.
The project will make roadway improvements along approximately one mile of U.S. Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park in southern Humboldt County to allow standard freight STAA legal (Surface Transportation Assistance Act) vehicles to travel through the corridor.
“This is an important milestone for a project that has undergone extensive environmental review and public input over many years,” said Caltrans District 1 Director Matt Brady. “We appreciate the thoroughness of the process and are ready to move forward with improvements that will enhance commercial mobility and improve safety on this critical stretch of U.S. 101 while protecting the surrounding environment.”
No old-growth redwood trees will be removed by the project. As part of early project work, Caltrans has recently conducted time-sensitive tree work to minimize impacts to nesting birds. Crews marked and removed only younger, newer-growth trees in preparation for construction. All tree removals planned for the project have been completed.
To further protect the sensitive environment within the park, Caltrans plans to use unconventional construction methods, including hand digging and air spades, to minimize impacts on redwood root systems.
Project construction is currently anticipated to begin in late May or early June, pending favorable conditions.
Caltrans will continue to provide project updates via “Caltrans District 1” on social media.
Additional information is available on the project web page.
From Caltrans
From Caltrans
From Caltrans
Earlier:
- Richardson’s Grove: Widening Our Minds / Widening Our Roads?
- Richardson Grove Realignment—Supporting Small Green Businesses
- A Foggy Humboldt Future
- On the Flip Side—The Beauty of the Save the Richardson’s Grove Protestors
- Demonizing the Opposition: Richardson’s Grove, the Pros and Cons of the Caltrans Project
- When Facts Fail, Use the Nuclear Option
- Copwatch Lies to Supporters?
- Richardson Grove Controversy Attracts the Interest of the Washington Post
- Decision in Richardson Grove Case
- EPIC Claims Victory in Latest Richardson Grove Ruling
- Senator Mike McGuire Toured Richardson Grove With Caltrans Today
- Caltrans and Environmentalists Begin New Battle Over Richardson Grove
- Court Says Halt on Richardson Grove Highway Project Will Stay in Place
- Judge Halts Caltrans Proposed Richardson Grove Project—Again
- Court Deals EPIC a Setback in Richardson Grove Ruling
- InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council Joins EPIC in Calling for a Halt to Richardson Grove Project
- Richardson Grove Improvement Project Public Comment Period
- To Curve or Not to Curve: Caltrans and EPIC Continue the Fight Over Richardson Grove
- Conservation Groups Appeal Court Ruling on Richardson Grove Project
- Caltrans, EPIC Clash Over Tree Cutting in Richardson Grove…Again
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Hell yeah… Maybe now oil won’t be controlled by the Renner fuel cartel and we can enjoy 1 dollar + cheaper gas like all our neighboring counties… Cheaper transportation = cheaper goods. Who has been funding EPIC for all these years??
Lol, good luck with that..
IMHO:
Renner sold out to Valley Pacific…a number of years ago.
Big thing is the Newsomites squeezing the last dollars out of the working people.
Need $130 billion for the railroad to nowhere… $8 billion (annually) health care for illegal aliens… $25 billion for the ‘homeless’ (money that magically… disappeared)… $114 million for a ‘cougar over-crossing’ These are soon to be followed by medical fraud payments. (Nobody knows how many dollars.)
Go figure.
A funny thing…the amount of money dumped into HSR that has yet to even completely clear the weeds that are growing back in some places would have rebuilt the entire line to at least Santa Rosa 10 times over. And a route to Redding that was originally planned a century ago.
That money would have also built a hundred Great Redwood Trails AND a new rail line next to it.Easily. You could develop a brand new city of 100,000 people with a 10 year budget a couple times. Rail AND trail folks would be swimming in money and we could subsidize about any new business along the way that people are so enamored with being present once completed. If ever.
That’s what $100,000,000,000 gets you.
No worries, Barron has our back.
I have, for 15 years. FU CalTrans.
All fuel oil and gasoline is delivered in to the county by sea barges and offloaded at the fuel port behind the Bayshore Mall.
not all of it, which is why our price is fixed at the load price of a 2 day round trip to Benicia. it is greater than 12 hours which requires the driver to rest. and the barge it’s not controlled by Valley Pacific.
Must be on some a that good hope!
puff puff pass…
Everything will be cheaper, tomorrow, bet you bottom dollar that tomorrow, the cfo will sacrifice his shares for you
It’s my understanding that Renner fuel comes up by barge, likely the cheapest form of transportation. Collusion is the problem, not trucks. (And I’ve been funding EPIC for all these years. And hundreds of others like me.)
Ummm. no.
Before people get all hopeful based on your misinformation.
The realignment will allow STAA compliant trucks to pass through Richardsons Grove. STAA trucks are longer, not heavier. Current fuel trucks usually run around max weight of 80k and can pass through the grove in its current alignment. After the realignment, the very same trucks will be passing through the grove as before because there is no need for longer trucks to carry the same weight. Longer fuel trucks would actually be more of a problem getting into gas stations for delivery.
Where we will benefit are those trucks of potato chips which don’t get up to the 80k weight limit. Instead of only 48 pallets of high carb diabetes saturated fat cardiac wafers of salty goodness, a 53′ trailer can carry 52 pallets of the same. Probably knock off a good 10 cents from every jumbo bag which you can save up for our spiraling out of control best all mighty capalist health care all your money will have to buy to heal your tortured body.
It’s not Renner that’s causing fuel to be so expensive, it’s Chevron.
Greed for the cheap now, pay later.
Funny. You can tell the CEQA obstructionists like Tom Wheeler and EPIC are on the defensive, because the 101 project started in 2007, which makes it a 19-year delay, not the latest propaganda 15 years since the first litigation. I guess 15 years sounds less unreasonable than almost 20. And poor old Tom Wheeler is now having to proclaim how “Abundance” and “YIMBY” he is. Sure, he loves more housing, and all that horrible growth stuff, PERFECT housing, meeting all his eco requirements of perfection, housing that will never get built. No businesses are going to invest in Humboldt on a decades long permitting process enforced by EPIC lawyers. I’m afraid the economic fallout of endless CEQA obstruction is only just started. And then there’s that Colin Fiske, who thinks we should all be biking to work in the rain. Humboldt has made itself a no-go zone for economic development by anything other than state grants. Welcome to steady decline. Hope you like your MediCal.
Yes, groups like EPIC are constantly on the defensive. That’s the nature of dealing with powerful orgs like Caltrans.
Yes, EPIC is defending the land, the sea, and our lives. No one wants to force you to bike to work in the rain, they want you to be able to walk to the grocery store on a nice day without risking your life. Cars and buses are good for long trips and bad weather, bikes and shoes are good for short trips and good weather.
Time to stripe naked and chain yourself to a tree. No minorities allowed. Senior Citizens only.
That makes as much sense as most of the things your president says.
What does your President say?
Who are you? I used to know a guy named Zach Rotwein who was a pot smoking, beer drinking fisherman who lived in Trinidad. Based on recent posts, not sure it’s the same guy. Maybe not. By the way, I think you meant “strip”.
Your admiration for Trump makes me think you’re not the same person. Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS)? I’m a veteran and a lifelong Republican who despises the man, not the party and the classic conservative platform. We and some of our gray haired Republican friends did attend the recent No Kings day. I wore my “Make America United Again” cap and t-shirt. It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment and Make America Great Again!
We and our family are lucky enough to travel, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina, Belize, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, Japan, etc. The world despises Trump so much, that we started telling people we’re from Canada.
Yep that was the old Zach. Like you I probably would’ve remained anonymous in posting my viewpoint as there was to much confusion of what was right vs wrong. but the much newer Zach,30 plus years sober and a worshiper of Jesus Christ is quite firm in his convictions. Introduce yourself sometime and we can have a good conversation.
Well, trump is firm in his convictions too. All 34 of them….. so far.
Are you saying that you assumed the identity of a dead man, Zach Rotwein, in order to make anonymous comments on this Blog in his name. Am I getting that right, bunky? I understand anonymity, but using another’s name and attributing your comments to that individual, dead or alive, IS BEARING FALSE WITNESS. That’s problematic with the Ninth Commandment. So you are NOT Zach Rotwein and, by definition, not a Christian either. Rolled snake-eyes man. Crash and burn. Do you contribute to a spiritual adviser or church? Consider demanding a refund because you are NOT being helped. A conversation with you would be stimulating!
Oh, wait, are you the same guy, just “born again”? Wooooeeee, can’t keep up. OK, I have to modify my prior comments to accommodate that. Sorry about the confusion. I Don’t accept Christianity or Trump. The second election of Trump pretty much demolished my “faith journey.” Good luck.
The redwood curtain will come down. Al’s truck stop might make a comeback.
This realignment needed to happen. Modern society needs modern transportation. We no longer live in caves and ride horses for transportation.
No one loves the South Fork of the Eel River or the environment more than me. However… When People have to leave Humboldt to survive, something is wrong.
The problem is that some “environmentalists” engage in zealotry, rather than sane reason. Their zealotry leads to ecoterrorism rather than environmental mitigation. They should use mitigation to improve nature in other places to offset needed damage to places like the obstructive Richardson Grove.
The Eel River canyon and the whole North Coast could thrive once again by opening up the highway system. We could have high paying jobs, live in decent housing, feed our families, and enjoy our natural habitat. Get on with it!
A downvote is a rather flaccid response. If you have something to say, say it. Sign your name and own it. Otherwise you are just another poser.
Can’t handle a little disagreement without whining? Or are you just adopting the tactics of those you claim to despise?
Yes, I can handle disagreement. In fact I invite it. You call it whining, I call it honesty.
Thank you for signing your brave statement “Ahuka 2400”.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I respect Ernie and John Fullerton and others who use their legal names. I DO NOT respect attributing personal comments to others, dead or alive, just to remain anonymous rather than simply making up a “handle” or avatar. That seems to have occurred on this thread.
Actually, put me down voting FOR Ernie and his reasonable analysis. I do think sometimes an upvote makes a statement in lieu of a keyboard blast (who, me?). Point taken. My upvotes don’t always click in. YES to Ernie.
I’ll say it again that I’ve always regarded this whole thing as just legal practice for new attorneys. Something for them to cut their teeth on with a couple of mentors from the partnership. This whole time they’ve been arguing, 299became STAA compliant, not just “CA legal for doubles” I mean, they can use 101 if they want, but 299 is better.
CalTrans “Getting to Eureka”
Difference between “CA legal” and “STAA legal”(PDF)
299 is not practical for STAA trucks from San Francisco, Oakland or Sacramento to Garberville
Otherwise you are right, 299 is best from the north.
The correct answer is always out there, it shouldn’t take years to find it. The legal system is America’s largest problem.
Next up for improvements is 199. Crescent City and 101 are only 90 minutes from 1-5, so trucks coming from the north can use this route that has only one summit (2000 feet) compared with using 299 with four summits, all with higher summits.
Well, 199 has closure issues, and soon south of crescent a stop light will slow traffic until 2039 on the last chance when they start the tunnel project that few people want. The highways and biways on the north coast will never be super speedways like some idiot drivers think.
The only difference will be bigger semis with sleeper cabs, so they don’t have to change trucks in Santa Rosa; this saves the shippers some money, not us.
Eureka will have the pleasure of picking up even more tipped over trucks at the Broadway/4th/5th curve. I hope Buddy’s towing has big enough equipment.
Heavier trucks also means more and bigger potholes the whole way, which will cost us money, not the shippers.
Yay, we win!
“Us” is who pays the shippers so it is us no matter what. Have there been many trucks that have tipped over at that curve?
Hell yes. That corner’s been a serious bobby trap forever. It’s been slightly improved by signage and lane marking over the years but it still seems like there’s a couple of tip overs a year, down from about monthly in the 70s.
Out of towners fail to appreciate that it may be called Highway 101, but it’s a downtown surface street in reality.
You can thank leon (Leon’s muffler) who helped stop a eureka bypass from happening years ago.
Oh yes. There were two in two weeks a while back. This was one of them. I also remember a truck dumping fish entrails or oyster shells or something of the like all over 5th street one time too.
You have a serious misunderstanding of what bigger STAA trucks means. They can be longer than the current 65′ limit, but they can’t weigh any more than the current trucks limited at 80k pounds.
Why would there be more trucks rolling over at the Broadway/4th/5th curve? The longer trucks are no less stable than the shorter trucks at the core of this discussion. The current trucks allowed through Richardson Grove are limited to 65′. The STAA specified trucks are typically only 5′-10′ longer overall, maybe 15′ in a few cases. Longer by less than the length of one typical car.
Is the realignment going to cause some magical increase in the amount of freight coming through Eureka to serve the same population as before the realignment, give or take a few births and deaths in that time frame.
You kind of have the rest backwards. Slightly longer trucks carrying more cargo per truck means less trucks overall, not more. Less trucks is less tires is less potholes is less pollution is less noise is less traffic.
Don’t fret. A tow truck capable of handling the current trucks can handle the STAA trucks just fine.
I repeat!
A little longer NOT any heavier!
Hey Ernie! Hope you’re well these days! I’m curious how this Hwy project will bring more jobs and get locals better housing? Not trying to be a jerk, just asking you to elaborate.
We still have our licensed farm, but I had to take another job to keep up with all of our bills. I joined the local electrician union, and I’m mostly working in the North of the county. Jobs like mine are available, but from what I’m seeing, may of the locals lack skills to land or retain them. I took a union readiness class out on by HSU and only 3 of the 23 people in the course are currently working in a union. The skills I’m taking about are just the basics, not industry know how since almost all the unions do on the job training. Things like being on time, working diligently, not being on your phone outside of breaks and lunch, asking questions and trying your best.
Unless this Hwy project allows more fuel trucks, thus bringing down our absurdly high prices(which a previous commenter claims won’t happen), I don’t see who this will benefit aside from some huge companies that will have a considerable reduction in delivery and shipping costs.
I travel a lot and it seems like Winco prices are comparable to Grocery stores in many other places. So I believe it’s not our physical inaccessibility that keeps grocery prices high, it’s a specific company‘s business model that seems to be doing that.
I don’t believe widening Richardson Grove will bring down prices at Ray’s shop, Smart or Safeway.
Hi Dan. I’m doing great, Hope you are doing well yourself. I’m glad to hear that you are resourceful and able to find other work in these depressing times.
Thank you for the question. Ray’s and Shop Smart would be a good example of how prices could be reduced. Ray’s gets their stock out of Oregon from Western Family. Western Family also has a warehouse in Sacramento. An STAA road through Richardson Grove would make a quicker less expensive trip. I’m sure that they would be glad to be able to lower their grocery prices, because they know that they are losing many customers to the North county.
Eureka has a large harbor that could be deepened and improved. The ports in Oakland and the southern ports are congested. To make the harbor useful again, like it once was, could attract shipping into the port for transport south through the Grove. It would make a good backhaul for trucks delivering to Eureka.
I could go on…
Just a little optimism and enthusiasm can go along way. A lot of improvements can be made while still protecting the environment.
“I’m sure that they would be glad to be able to lower their grocery prices” That’s a whole lot of optimism and enthusiasm. I just checked prices for the online shopper for the Garberville Rays compared to that of the Cloverdale Rays (on the other side of the curtain) and they are exactly the same when comparing a cart of boneless skinless chicken, broccoli, a box of rice-a-roni, mayo, & ketchup.
Corporations are generally quick to pass on costs to consumers but rarely pass on the savings.
Point taken. Prices go up but never go down. Shop were your wallet takes you.
My brother-in-law was an FTC lawyer and was involved in the Wonder Bread monopoly and price fixing scandal. That was back before retail shopping went crazy. We are on our own now.
The north coast could do better at demanding better pricing. Maybe if we fought the real enemy instead of each other it could work.
P.S. Amazon put me out of the retail business. Among other things. (Covid, Marijuana crash, etc.)
Online shopping is detrimental to small business, and yet as prices rise, some are forced to seek the cheapest option at the detriment to their own community. I don’t know what the answer is, but I see the problem and want to fix it. I shop locally as much as I can, to the detriment of my financial security, but at least feel like I’m trying to keep my community alive. However, with prices soaring, there is very little left of expendable income as it all goes to keeping the lights on, so to speak.
A lot of online retail is done by “small business” using online markets like Walmart, Etsy or Amazon. I recently ordered 5 books from Walmart online. They came in 4 separate packages from 4 businesses from 3 different states even though they all used Walmart shipping envelopes. So there may be a neighbor running a business like that from home or a store front. IDK.
What store fronts can’t compete with is cheap goods from mass overseas market places. And outsourcing customer service. I have ordered a local taxi recently where it turned out the dispatchers were in the Philippines. I don’t know what can be done about these sorts of things. Maybe maybe only allow wages paid to American citizens to be a full deduction from gross? It’s hard for American workers in jobs that can be outsourced when there are so many regulations and taxes here. Not that there isn’t a valid reason for it but it does make it harder to compete.
Many of those online sellers are small businesses themselves. FB marketplace, eBay, Alibaba, even Amazon is basically a gigantic warehouse of small business. You can ignore it, or you can embrace it. I recently bought some very difficult to find mountain bike parts that zero shops locally had. I was quite specific in what I wanted. Eventually I found them from a pawnshop in New Hampshire and another in Huntington Beach. Nobody local. So the others got my money. That’s just how it is. Either embrace the technology and sell online or don’t and make zero dollars.
Well that’s a pity; you can order from Northtown Books’ online store and have them delivered to you.
https://northtownbooks.com/
Wasn’t there some scandal recently about Amazon forcing small businesses to keep their prices higher so Amazon can have the cheapest prices? Something like that
I’m not understanding how the 101 project will enable a quicker less expensive trip from Sacramento.
From Sacramento? The time savings would barely register. 299 used to take me 3.5+ hours with no traffic. Now it can be done in under 3 and that’s with a LOT of realignments over the years. Widening the Grove will save what….2 minutes?
As far as freight, a lot of distribution points are around Redding. UPS, FedEx, Amazon and WalMart all have distro centers there. USPS has one in Medford. All these are further north and would come over 299 to get to say Garb, or even Fortuna.
Stores like Ray’s get refilled from trucks coming from Oregon so they’d never have a reason to go past Garberville, or come up 101. Others like ACE Hardware I’ve seen come up 101, but also 299.
I think I’ve made my point though, that if I were doing the logistics, I’d just about ignore widening 101 and go around. Get longer trucks in that way. Or supply a spot in maybe Fortuna (develop one of the old mill parcels into a distro spot like Amazon wants to do in McKinleyville). Not enough daily freight between G’ville and Willits that can’t be done with a few smaller box trucks, let alone doubles.
Actually traveling the mile though there faster would save only seconds less time to travel. 🙂
For example, @30mph, one mile takes 2 minutes. In my dreams my Lambo @60mph goes through in one minute.
That’s because you don’t understand that Sacramento is closer than portland oregon. If the road was open to STAA trucks. That was my point.
Got it. Of course. I misunderstood. Thanks!
You’ve got a point there. I acknowledge that. I’m just having a hard time seeing that it’s worth the expense of the project and the danger to the old growth roots…Even added to the supposed safety reason. I admit my bias is more with trees and saving money than CalTrans who seems to never see a project they don’t like…
Um, I’d ask Judi Bari and Daryl Cherny about the FBI’s “environmentalist” Zealotry…oh, wait Judi is gone, Bless Her Heart.
You lost me at “Ecoterrorism”, Ernie.
That’s the type of hyperbole that calls your entire comment into question– like when people bandy about terms like Communism as a catch-all for things with which they disagree.
Ohhhh- maybe like right wing nuts, MAGA or similar? They certainly seem like “carch-alls” for disagreement too.
“No one loves the South Fork of the Eel River or the environment more than me. However… When People have to leave Humboldt to survive, something is wrong.”
Ernie, you cannot love the SFER and environment, and at the same time defend instream gravel extraction, Reggae on the River, Southern Humboldt Community Park and now Richardson Grove. Pick one, you don’t get it both ways…
You are wrong this time Ed. I saw the river before that 1955, and the 1964 floods. Gravel extraction done responsibly can vastly improve the river.
I have never supported the Community park. It is it’s own entity, and a private enterprise. Although it has some good points.
I do support realigning the grove. I wish that the opposition would have tried harder to fight for mitigation, rather than loose in the courts. A lot of mitigation could have been financed with the money spent on fighting and loosing.
There are no scientific study’s (Potamology, Fluvial Geomorphology, Limnology, Hydrology) that show instream gravel extraction will diminish sedimentation in rivers, without degrading aquatic habitat. If you have seen the South Fork Eel River before 1955 & 1964 below the old Moody Bridge, you will note how the Channel incision and degradation has lowered the steambed river bar in elevation when sediment removal exceeds supply. Which, by the way is owned by the Southern Humboldt Community Park (SHCP) and leased for instream gravel extraction and processing.
The SHCP is a 501c3 Corporation, and its tax returns are open to the public. They claim to be a public park, without having their board meetings open to the public. You have always supported the SHCP, because you were afraid of speaking out opposing its creation, because you owned a buisness and getting flack from the Park Board. You went along to get along.
And you did not comment about Reggae on the River?
Strategic instream gravel extraction àbsolutely needs to happen, Ed Voice…
Call it, desedimentation of the river channels…
Here is a picture of the bridge abutment on the Ferndale side of Fernbridge that demonstrates the destructive potential of not properly addressing excessive Eel river channel sedimentation…
I know your pet peeves is Randal’s sand and gravel extraction facility.
However, without it, the road to your old place that goes by Tooby park, would likely have completely washed out years ago …
But, before you just reflexively respond to the contrary, please try and be logical and reasonable., not just emotional and unyielding…
Next time you head north on 101 past salmon creek, look at the erosion that’s happening to the old Holmgren homestead, that is now the state park, and the stand of regrowth redwoods that is collapsed into the river due to excessive sedimentation upstream on the opposite side….
You can’t miss it…
(Between Salmon Creek proper, and the North Salmon Creek exit.)
From there, also due to the excessive sedimentation upstream on the opposite side that is very apparent, the river struggles further, and so it unnaturally cuts perpendicularly across the river channel, futily trying to maintain it’s old course, now slamming directly into the Avenue of the Giants, where Ancient Redwoods have been falling due to the resulting new erosion, and the Avenue of the Giants itself, is being washed out, has recently required extensive, expensive repairs, and is being continually threatened, and relentlessly compromised…
Without addressing the excessive sedimentation there, the ongoing destruction of the Avenue of the Giants, along with the Sacred Ancient Redwoods that stand along it’s river banks there, are not long for this world…
Talk about environmental damage, and not defending ancient redwoods…
Those redwoods can’t be replaced…
And there will be a lot more significant destruction of ancient redwoods there, if nothing is done, and no instream gravel is properly managed and removed upstream from that area, than will result from the insignificant Richardson Grove realignment
Mark my words…
Not to mention, that in low water conditions, the water flow of salmon creek itself is effectively disconnected from the river, due to excessive sedimentation in the area of the mouth of Salmon Creek…
Maintenance is key…
I certainly hope you’re bringing this up to people not on a comment section.
Wait! So this whole fight has been about getting STAA trucks up here? But they will pull the same size trailer that the CA Legal trucks already pull through Richardson Grove?!! The extra length of the STAA truck is just for a bigger cab?!! Is this what this has all been about??? All this work and expense so the drivers can have a bigger cab?
That, and it will make the Grove safer for ALL traffic. PLUS, Trucks are more and more moving to the more modern and efficient STAA trucks.
It won’t be safer, it’ll be faster, so crashes will be even more deadly.
Why will it be faster?
The speed limit in the realigned road will still be 35mph like it is now. The road will actually be a little more curved as it is shifted and or widened in the curves so the trucks have a little more room to get around the trees.
I suppose the extra space might tempt the people who drive dangerously through there now to maybe go a little faster, just can’t fix stupid selfish people, but at the same time, there will be a little more room in the curves to avoid being hit by them. Knowing the final balance of safer or more dangerous is beyond my skill set on this, but my gut says it will be the same or a little safer, not worse.
I’ve been driving it- for a few years commuting 4x/week through it- and I never hit a tree. Or saw anybody else do that. I cannot agree on compromising everything for “safety”. Remember- Safety first= Quality second!
Efficient for who Ernie? Speed kills…
The fight is lost, Ed Voice…
It’s all over but the crying…
An entirely futile, petty conflict that went on far too long…
The lost time, the unnecessary cost, and wasted energy of that, stubborn yet futile conflict could have been properly directed into much more productive, much less wasteful ways…
But, instead, it all amounted to absolutely nothing, whatsoever, at all…
Ridiculous…
Let that be a lesson to all of those that would obstructively, ubstructionistically, obstinately and unnecessarily, stand in the way of a little progress, unreasonably…
What a waste…
Yes and no.
It is possible to bring a 53′ STAA trailer through now, but to stay legal it has to be pulled by a short truck without a sleeper. The STAA 53′ trailers are usually the bix box or refrigerator trailers and some flatbeds. Often times those are pulled by long haul live in your rig truckers who need the longer condo sleeper truck to stay sane on the road for weeks. If they can’t get up here, it really limits the hauling options in and out of HumCo. It has a lot to do with logistics and efficiency and not just a kittle more cargo in each truck, and that all brings down costs. Flatbed trucks hauling lumber are maxed at weight that would all fit on a 48′ or 45′ or even shorter trailer that is legal with a sleeper as the road is now, but a longer 53′ trailer gives them more flexibility in how they load and what other loads they can carry.
Also, even though the trailer is longer, the length from the kingpin (hitch on the truck) to the axles on the trailer is limited by california law to be the same on the longer trailers as the shorter trailers.
Thank you for explaining that! I really have not known this whole time what we were talking about. So the project isn’t about bigger trailers or bigger cargo but it’s about the sleeper part of the cab. Okay- I can understand why that would be important to long-distance truckers and make logistics easier for a trucking company. At least now it’s a clear picture for me! Everybody all around me just kept saying “bigger trucks” all these years like we’d get way more stuff up here easier and prices would drop hugely….wishful thinking perhaps.
Thank you EPIC, for causing CalTrans to waste our tax money all these years defending their plans, which like the Willits Bypass, will be completed. And in a few years of blissful motoring, everyone will forget your obstructionist ways.
CalTrans was found by the courts, that they did not abide the law with their insufficient plans. And so the efforts against them had value. (In addition to that they showed a powerful agency like that, they did not, DO NOT have free reign here, unlike in most areas of this state!).
Wheeler himself pointed out that this lawsuit made the Last Chance Grade project better.
Yet again, money speaks the loudest.
Yet again, you lose Humboldt County.
The money spent by the government on these lawsuits has indeed been very, very quiet. Many millions likely.
Yet again, lawyers end up multi millionaires.
All very nice platitudes, however, Highway 101 along the South Fork Eel River has a bigger problem, re, trucking, than Richardson Grove. Go back south about 16 miles to the Peg House area of Leggett. There are two twisty turns that rack up a super-abundance of flip-overs and diesel spills on almost a daily basis, despite the flashing warning signals and slower speeds signs in-place NOW! Can’t recall when the last such accident through RG happened. I have lived down that-a-way for 48 years.
I have no idea how Cal-Trans is going to solve the Leggett 101 problems, but if “slightly”larger STAA trucks, that will provide “high paying jobs, live in decent housing, feed our families, and enjoy our natural habitat” will be traversing that entire route the only jobs I see an increase need for will be more and bigger towing rigs and hazardous waste clean up expediters.
On the bright side at least we’ll get a Trader Joe’s now.
And the routine Trader Joe’s contaminated food recalls that will pair perfectly with all the Humboldt County restaurants that are routinely found to have cockroach and rodent infestations. Yum.
Those cockroaches and rodents might be menu items.
Trader Joe’s won’t be coming to this area because there’s not a logical “next stop.” They would have to deadhead their way back down and that’s not how they operate. Crescent City couldn’t support one.
Who knows, maybe you’re right. But the rumor was always that trader joes wanted a location in Humboldt but the truck issue was a deal breaker for them. In and Out, Wingstop, Hamburger habit, and a lot of chains have all moved to Humboldt recently. I think the days of being an isolated small town without enough population to support big chains may be over.
I’m very sorry to see the Redwood Curtain open up. I don’t care a bit about a couple of trees. I just don’t want to see humboldt become less isolated and difficult to get to. I don’t want national chains and the bland homogeneity of interstate America. I don’t want more population and more businesses.
That is probably the most honest comment here. Many of us like the slower and less commercial pace of life. But I can feel that way because I am retired. If I was here and needed a job or had a business and wanted to expand or had family who had to leave the area because they couldn’t get a good wage, I might feel very differently.
It’s a sad day when the litmus test for ‘better’ is that we have more “big chain” stores here. Ugh….. 🙁
We don’t have nearly the population to support a TJ’s. Pity.
From what I read, this is a tempest in a teapot over ONE 8″ tree. The Redwoods have survived all this time with that road there and now that road will be easier to navigate for those that deliver our goods here. Might even mean slightly lower prices. Time to pull open the Emerald Curtain and let in the light. I am so tired of this EPIC obstruction and am grateful that it’s done. And I LOVE trees!
I must observe that most of this conversation is very human-centric…
The Caltrans description does not share their intention to excavate feeder roots of the old growth trees. Caltrans will directly pave over , smothering and suffocating with asphalt , some of the most important Redwood roots which feed nutrients to the trees . Not to mention that these roots are woven into each other, communicating with each other over webs of mycelium.
When I study the historic maps of the forest in that area, predating the construction of Highway 101, and compared them to historic maps following the highways placement, it was very clear that several huge trees from the road died, after the highway was laid out. If Caltrans intends to excavate feeder roots, we do not know how long those trees will survive.
The redwood forests sequester more carbon than any other type of flora across the planet. in our age of climate change, it is also notable how the shade and fresh oxygen of the redwood canopy contribute to and benefit our atmosphere. This project will affect not only the trees it is connected to, but is one of the precedents for how human development interacts with redwood trees.
It’s really a travesty, to hedge human economic gains, which are impossible to measure, against an ancient canopy at the southern threshold of the redwoods of the north coast.
THANK YOU EPIC for all your efforts to protect this very special place, Richardson Grove!
It may be time to again form the Citizens Observation Group (COG). With our now-elder community of back-to-the-landers / environmentalists, there are likely those who have the time to hang out and observe CalTrans as they work in this sensitive area. Knowing their project schedule t understand when they would need to be especially cautious would make it practical. Then reporting them if/ when they don’t abide the ‘rules of engagement’. If it happens, I’ll sign up for a couple shifts…..