By Samuel Strait – Reporter at Large – June 29, 2022
Not many of us in Del Norte County have continued to follow the “Last
Chance Grade” follies, as the “State” continues to assure us that things
are well in hand. Since the landslide which removed a substantial
portion of Highway 101 south of Crescent City in February 2021 we are
being informed that just maybe, the road would be reestablished to two
way traffic “sometime” in the fall of 2022, “barring unforeseen
circumstances”. After nearly two years of sometimes one way traffic,
lengthy delays up to four hours, and now three stoplights for
construction, the roadway “could return” to what passes for a highway
that most other Californians have enjoyed without a lengthy interruption
through out the state. Guess that tells us here in the County what to
expect from Sacramento, our fine representatives there and the one
looking after us at the Federal level.
Appearing in most mailboxes recently was “the Progress Update” of the
work currently in progress on the “Grade” featuring ground anchors,
walers, and steel piles meant to assure us that the roadway would be
“safe” to return to use in the near future. Coupled with a massive
financial investment, the slope above the “grade” was being stabilized
with an anchored cable net drapery system, yet no mention of an actual
“solution” for the problem currently beyond the interminable round of
talking the issue to death. Clearly environmental impacts will be on
the forefront of any solution, at least that is the over all impression
given.
As we have known for some time there are but two alternatives that
continue to be “studied” into likely oblivion. Alternative “F” with a
hefty price tag is a tunnel “deep underground”, which seeks to avoid
environmental impacts, side step landslides, and enhance “safety”. The
idea that powerless Del Norte County is even on the radar of those in
Sacramento make this option the proverbial “Hail Mary” kind of solution.
Alternative “X”, the odds on favorite, is merely to continue to flail
away at the current right of way with ” improvements far beyond the
scope of emergency repairs”. We seemed to have heard that one before.
Lots of “word salad” in the flyer to cover the fact that any solution
will be a long time coming and more likely to be a bigger, better, band
aide which will do nothing about the well known fact that the mountain
of which “Last Chance Grade” is affixed to will eventually find itself
in the Pacific Ocean.
Of course there is the usual palliative of “work behind the scenes”,
“value analysis completed”, “moving from map to project description”,
“minimizing impacts”, and finally “staying on schedule” with appropriate
graphics and no firm commitment to any “begin construction phase”. How
completely reassuring. Not sure what anyone is to make of this recent
and likely expensive effort except it will be awhile before anything
gets beyond the paperwork stage. There is one thing that is notable, in
that neither the City’s Council or the County Board of Supervisors has
taken note of the direction nor dilatory fashion that this project is
set to proceed. There continues to be a sense of glacial speed with
which this project is moving forward. As the City continues to be
fascinated by dreams of a Disney like park at Beachfront and the County
is hiring and expanding like there is no tomorrow, perhaps “Climate
Change” will make the problem moot.
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