Letter to Eureka Reporter, 7/7/2007

Dear Editor,

In Nathan Rushton’s article about the Harbor District (“New hire has Harbor District hopeful for a revenue, port shipping increase” on July 2), the North Coast Railroad Authority is described as “beginning in earnest this year to restore its defunct rail service.”

One could have described the NCRA as “beginning in earnest this year” for each of the past nine years if one asked for a description of what the NCRA does from the NCRA itself.

The NCRA has been trying to bring back rail service since it was stopped by landslides in the geologically unstable Eel River Canyon about a decade ago.

Instead of just reporting on what people say on one side or the other, it would be great to see The Eureka Reporter investigate the facts that support or refute viability of rail and port development plans.

If you want to get to the truth, “he said-she said” reporting only gets you so far. Feasibility reports and a walk down the canyon might lead you much closer.

Uncertainty about rail’s return has the potential to delay other uses of the corridor. For example, the county loses $3.8 million in potential economic activity every year we wait to build the Eureka-to-Arcata segment of the Humboldt Bay Trail, but uncertainty about the rail’s return leads to substantial uncertainty about the design and cost of the trail.

The Long Term Financial Feasibility of the NWP, July 2002, is available at northcoastrailroad.org/plandocs.html. A presentation summarizing the feasibility of the Arcata-Eureka Trail is available at hcaog.net and the final study should become available on July 26.

Chris Rall
Arcata