This article appeared in the Eureka Reporter on 6 September 2007. 

by Cerena Johnson

Residents voiced concerns about the Eureka-Arcata Route 101 Corridor Improvement Project during the Arcata City Council meeting Wednesday night.

Representatives from Caltrans, Arcata’s Transportation Safety Committee and Green Wheels presented the City Council with options intended to inform the council, which would then order city staff to prepare comments to submit to Caltrans on the project’s draft environmental impact report.

The project’s goal is to improve safety at intersections, reduce operational conflicts and restore and rehabilitate U.S. Highway 101.

The 50-mph safety corridor currently in place was an interim solution implemented in 2002 under the direction of a task force, said Caltrans Project Manager Kim Floyd.

The safety corridor exists in an area that, prior to the safety corridor, contained a larger-than-state-average number of collisions at four out of six of the intersections.

Three project alternatives are being considered.

With the first alternative, all median openings would be closed.

With the second alternative, median openings would be closed and an interchange would be constructed at Indianola Cutoff.

The third alternative would include median closures, an interchange at Indianola and a traffic signal at Airport Road.

The other option is to do nothing, although Floyd said some rehabilitation will be needed.

The majority of residents who spoke expressed support for the no-build alternative.

Many advocated alternative transportation. Some said the safety corridor currently serves as one of the safest routes for bicyclists to travel between Eureka and Arcata.

Chris Rall, who represented Green Wheels at the meeting, recommended the no-build alternative with an emphasis on prioritizing multiuse transportation and alternative transportation systems, such as bus rapid transit.

Others were concerned with the impact on global warming and the environment, as well as the cost of the project.

Several employees of corridor businesses said they worried how median closures would impact business.

“I think we should be working on alternatives,” said former Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas.

Some of the solutions posed by residents included hiring more law enforcement to patrol the safety corridor, and the installation of cameras that would help enforce the speed limit, as well as installation of stoplights.

Only one man, a county resident and owner of an Indianola Cuttoff business, said he was in favor of an interchange.

“The bottom line is that intersection is very unsafe,” he said, adding “try to cross it at peak time.”

Councilmember Alex Stillman said the city is going to have to be creative in what it does and also advocated rails to trails and preserving cultural resources.

Mayor Harmony Groves expressed concern about State Transportation Improvement Program funding, which would be used for the project, and suggested researching possible designation of the corridor as a scenic highway.

Caltrans will accept comments on the project until Sept. 28.