Image: Photo mock-up of proposed project from the Caltrans DEIR.

Lots of folks in this community have been clamoring for a trail between Arcata and Eureka along the bay, parallel to the 101 corridor. So Caltrans is working up plans spend $55-62 million of our regional transportation dollars building a mountain of an interchange out at Indianola Cutoff and closing all the median crossings between Eureka and Arcata without making any improvements for pedestrians, bicyclists or transit. Wha?!?

To be fair, Caltrans had their reasons, but realities have changed since design work started on the 101 Eureka Arcata Corridor Improvement Project back around the turn of the millennium. Back before they lowered the speed limit, this project seemed like a good idea. There were several fatal collisions out there and lots of injury collisions, with folks getting broadsided as they ran the gauntlet turning left at Indianola Cutoff and Bayside Cutoff. Now, with the 50 mph speed limit, there hasn't been a single fatality, the collision rate at Indianola cutoff is about average, and the whole corridor is three times safer than an average California expressway of similar length and traffic volume.

Of course, any big agency working on a big project tends to have a lot of inertia, or in this case, momentum. That means we get fed other reasons for why this project should go forward despite the current adequate safety of the corridor. Caltrans says in their DEIR that folks will start ignoring the speed limit after a while, and the corridor will become dangerous again. This has happened on other safety corridors in other parts of the state within a few years of instituting the safety corridor designation. We have given it five years now, and it hasn't happened here.

The other concern Caltrans puts forward is that traffic volume will increase, causing safety and congestion problems on the corridor a few years down the road. According to their projections, traffic will increase at 5 times the projected rate of population growth, giving us 50% more traffic by 2031 (see figure). This projection would have the average motorist increase their driving from 40 miles per day this year to 57 miles per day in 2031.

If there are going to be increases in traffic, Eureka will have more trouble accommodating it than the corridor. Rush hour "Level of Service" (LOS), a measure of traffic flow and wait times, is already an "F" on Broadway and North of Myrtle on 101, and an "E" on the rest of 4th and 5th Streets. So what will happen when the hypothetical 50% more traffic is dumped onto Eureka Streets?

Eureka has $115.85 million worth of projects lined up over the next 20 years in the 2006 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) to try and alleviate 101 congestion. Due to a lot of constraints, Eureka will probably still be congested after all that effort and expenditure.

Most folks accept some increase in travel demand as our population and economy grows. But when you combine the cost for Eureka congestion relief, and the cost for this project, (a grand total of at least $170 million) you might ask, what is the most cost effective way to solve these safety and congestion transportation problems?

Mass transit is ten times safer per passenger mile, and can alleviate congestion more effectively than road expansion. One option we should consider is building a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in phases. BRT is like light rail on rubber tires and may be a feasible choice for our region. Whether BRT is the best alternative or not, the public has the right to know what choices are being made about our transportation system. It should be included as an alternative in the final EIR. If that cannot be done, we should put the Mount Indianola project on the shelf, and craft our 2008 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) to prioritize multimodal options, including BRT and trail development.

You can read a more detailed analysis of the 101 Eureka-Arcata Corridor Improvement Project DEIR and explore other project options at green-wheels.org. What happens with this project will be determined in part by local entities, so contact your City Councilmember, County Supervisor and HCAOG Board Representative to let them know how you feel about Mount Indianola. Caltrans is accepting comments on the DEIR postmarked by Friday, Sept. 28. Send them to:

Rod Parsons
Chief
Environmental Branch E-1
California Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 3700
Eureka, CA 95502-3700

Figure Below:

Historic and projected Humboldt County population (diamonds) and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) (squares). A vertical line demarcates the shift from historical figures to projections. Note that projected VMT trend is steeper than the historical trend. Historic population data are from the US Census. Population projections are from the California Department of Finance. VMT estimates and projections are from the Caltrans 2006 "California Motor Vehicle Stock, Travel and Fuel Forecast."

Aerial photo of Eureka-Arcata 101 corridor.

A version of this also appeared as an opinion piece in the Eureka Reporter, Aug 21, 2007.