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US 101 Willits Bypass

Started by andy3175, June 04, 2012, 08:45:46 PM

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andy3175

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/04/4535558/dan-walters-environmentalists.html

QuoteIn 2007, a six-mile "Willits bypass" to carry vehicles around the eastern edge of the town was on the verge of gaining state financing, but at the last moment, Los Angeles politicians pressured the state Transportation Commission for more money, and the Willits project was put aside.

Finally, however, the project was resuscitated, in no small measure due to the local congressman, Democrat Mike Thompson. In February, he announced that all permits for the bypass had been obtained, despite criticism from environmentalists.

"The mood of the downtown merchants is that they are looking forward to having their Main Street back where they will have more control over the design of the streetscape," Willits city official Alan Fallerri said.

Well, maybe not.

A coalition of environmental groups has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the adequacy of the permitting process, and calling it "a wake-up call for Caltrans, which should be building efficient public transit and maintaining existing roads rather than wasting our money and resources clinging to outdated visions of new freeways."


The comments are especially interesting to read.

Regards,
Andy
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com


J N Winkler

The Willits Bypass was advertised for construction a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/oe/project_ads_addenda/01/01-262004/
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

nexus73

The way the environmentalists think, if we let them have their way, we would never build any new roads anywhere.  There has been no substantial earthshaking economically devastating damage caused by prior 101 NorCal freeway bypasses but there sure have been some big hits taken by taxpayers in dealing with all the enviromentalist lawsuits.

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

on_wisconsin

#3
Quote from: J N Winkler on June 06, 2012, 10:33:48 AM
The Willits Bypass was advertised for construction a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/oe/project_ads_addenda/01/01-262004/
Do you a have link to the actual construction plans beacuse every thing I click on at that link is an EIS or RoD related document.
"Speed does not kill, suddenly becoming stationary... that's what gets you" - Jeremy Clarkson

myosh_tino

Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 08, 2012, 06:40:47 PM
Quote from: J N Winkler on June 06, 2012, 10:33:48 AM
The Willits Bypass was advertised for construction a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/oe/project_ads_addenda/01/01-262004/
Do you a have link to the actual construction plans beacuse every thing I click on at that link is an EIS or RoD related document.
Click on the link, then "Plans", then "As Advertised" to get to the project plans.  Caltrans breaks up their plans into 100-page blocks with each block being about 25 MB in size so make sure you have a relatively fast internet connection (it's barely bearable at 1.5 Mbit DSL).
Quote from: golden eagle
If I owned a dam and decided to donate it to charity, would I be giving a dam? I'm sure that might be a first because no one really gives a dam.

TheStranger

Chris Sampang

brad2971

Quote from: andy3175 on June 04, 2012, 08:45:46 PM
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/04/4535558/dan-walters-environmentalists.html

QuoteIn 2007, a six-mile "Willits bypass" to carry vehicles around the eastern edge of the town was on the verge of gaining state financing, but at the last moment, Los Angeles politicians pressured the state Transportation Commission for more money, and the Willits project was put aside.

Finally, however, the project was resuscitated, in no small measure due to the local congressman, Democrat Mike Thompson. In February, he announced that all permits for the bypass had been obtained, despite criticism from environmentalists.

"The mood of the downtown merchants is that they are looking forward to having their Main Street back where they will have more control over the design of the streetscape," Willits city official Alan Fallerri said.

Well, maybe not.

A coalition of environmental groups has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the adequacy of the permitting process, and calling it "a wake-up call for Caltrans, which should be building efficient public transit and maintaining existing roads rather than wasting our money and resources clinging to outdated visions of new freeways."


The comments are especially interesting to read.

Regards,
Andy


Yes, the comments are "interesting" in their worthlessness. Which is par-for-the-course for ANY Dan Walters column. Not to get too much off on a tangent, but the CA GOP (in its diminished state) performed one of their smartest political moves in the last 20 years by kicking that bastion of sanctimonious nostalgia known as Tom McClintock "upstairs" to DC. Seems to me that Dan Walters could use another such relocation.

As for the Willits bypass, seems to me Dan and his commenters should look at a map of 101 through Mendocino. Seems to need more than just a bypass of Willits to me.

Scott5114

Comments on road-related news articles are generally not worth the pixels they're displayed on.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

NE2

Is the visible grading here part of an aborted previous attempt to build it? http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=39.38105,-123.33063&z=16&t=O
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

J N Winkler

Quote from: NE2 on October 18, 2012, 08:52:44 PMIs the visible grading here part of an aborted previous attempt to build it?

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=39.38105,-123.33063&z=16&t=O

It is on the line of the bypass and original ground is suspiciously close to the profile line in the relevant area (roughly station 100 to station 110).  So, yes, I would say it is almost certainly rough grading done in anticipation of the bypass.  However, I don't think it is necessarily evidence a previous attempt to build the bypass was aborted.  The grading might have been done decades ago under a previous contract to secure earthworks balance, with no expectation that the next segment north would be tied up in an EIS process.

BTW, much of the graded area overlaps what will be the US 101/SR 20 interchange when the bypass is finished.  SR 20 is being re-routed south of Willits substantially on the present US 101 alignment, and will connect with the bypass alignment at the north-to-west curve shown in the map extract.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

andy3175

Update: work on the Willits Bypass of U.S. 101 began and has been controversial, with several arrests for protests once construction began. The project limits begin about 0.8 miles south of Haehl Creek Overhead and end about 1.8 miles south of Reynolds Highway, a distance of approximately 5.9 miles. It will be constructed as a two-lane bypass to begin and may be expanded as funding is identified.

Some resources online include the official Caltrans project site:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1projects/willits/index.htm

http://willitsbypass.wordpress.com/ (has a map showing the proposed route)

QuoteThe Willits Bypass Project is still a four-lane bypass, but it is being built in two phases due to competitive funding with other highway projects. This first phase will build the full four-lane Route 20 interchange on the south end of Willits, two lanes of the north interchange, and the southbound lanes in between. The second phase will be built as soon as additional funding becomes available.

QuoteThere have been a number of protestors arrested who were trespassing within the construction area, and we feel it is important to highlight some important facts. Caltrans respects the rights of those who peacefully protest, and we have a responsive public input component as part of every major project we develop intended to gather divergent view points. The Willits Bypass project is currently in its construction phase, and we now have a responsibility to conduct a safe work zone. During the development phase of this project, many public input meetings were held with the majority of public comments received in favor of the project.

A TV news channel posted this story, which opines that the money used to construct the Willits US 101 bypass could be more effectively used elsewhere in the state. Having been trapped in several long lines in Willits personally in the mid-1990s and again in 2006, I am not sure I agree that this project is not needed, but I understand and get the environmental sensitivity of this beautiful area:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=9200558

QuoteMonths of protests have slowed down a controversial Caltrans project, but construction has not stopped. A multi-million dollar freeway is being built on sensitive wetlands in an area that just doesn't have many cars.

...

Willits is 135 miles north of San Francisco on Highway 101 -- the major route north to Eureka.

Frisbie says, "It's considered by many to be the lifeline to the north coast."

That may be true, but by the time Highway 101 goes through Willits, there are only about 8,000 vehicles a day on the road. Caltrans wants to build a four-lane freeway designed to carry roughly 5,000 vehicles an hour. That's $300 million for six miles of freeway, all designed to bypass a bottleneck where 101 turns into Main Street.

Willits City Council member Ron Orenstein says there are often "two lanes of traffic heading north, just gridlocked." He supports Caltrans' plan. There is no question something needs to be done, but others say Caltrans' solution is way too expensive and does too much damage to sensitive wetlands.

City Council member Madge Strong says, "It's too destructive and it only serves a very, very small segment of the traffic."

Critics point to the bottleneck. Caltrans data shows 70 percent of it is locals just driving around town, so most of the cars there won't even use the bypass. To get an idea of who would drive on the bypass, looked at photos from Caltrans' own traffic cameras on Highway 101 north of Willits. Caltrans data shows 60 percent of those vehicles are driving through Willits, so the area is closer to the level of traffic that might be expected on the bypass. Most of the pictures show just a few cars or none at all on the road.

The project opponents also have opposition webpage: http://www.savelittlelakevalley.org/. Note that protesters have been fighting to stop the project in various ways, including blocking construction trucks on Sept 5th as documented by this site:

QuoteTwo brave young local residents, who are going by "Feather"  and "Earthworm,"  have locked themselves to a truck hauling soil to the Little Lake wetlands, at the intersection of Commercial Ave. and Main St. As of this writing, the truck has been immobilized by this direct action for more than 90 minutes. The lock-down blocked traffic in the northbound lane for nearly a half-hour before the police arrived, including an estimated 20 dump trucks.

The lock-down is currently surrounded by roughly 10 California Highway Patrol officers and a handful of Willits Police, with a crowd of supporters (and some detractors) watching from the sidewalk.

Danielle "Feather"  Fristo is a 26-year-old lifelong Mendocino County resident and co-owner of Roadhouse Music: one of many Willits businesses that would be gravely harmed by the Bypass. Roughly one quarter of the company's business comes from people traveling through town, whose cars would be diverted to the new six-mile section of freeway.

"Earthworm"  is also a lifelong Mendocino County resident.

Another opposition webpage can be found at http://www.saverichardsongrove.org/other-caltrans-projects/willits-bypass/ and http://www.saverichardsongrove.org/about/the-problem/roads/, which states:

QuoteCaltrans is proposing to spend $210 million to bulldoze a six-mile, four-lane freeway the size of Interstate 5 around the community of Willits, in Mendocino County, California. The project would cause unnecessary environmental damage to the Little Lake Valley and its increasingly rare wetlands, salmon-bearing streams and endangered plants. The Little Lake Valley is then drained by Outlet Creek, a mighty 130-mile headwaters tributary of the Eel River, and provides the longest remaining run for the endangered Coho salmon of any river tributary in California. The project would fill more than 86 acres of wetlands and require the largest wetlands fill permit in Northern California in the last 50 years!

Caltrans' antiquated project is not needed for the traffic volumes through Willits. A 1998 Caltrans study found that 70-80 percent of traffic causing congestion in downtown Willits was local traffic; the bypass would only divert 20%-30% of Willits' Main Street traffic.
There are alternatives to reduce traffic congestion in Willits including: internal street connections, bike paths, safe crosswalks, improved intersection performance, and better local public transit that would be able serve the needs of the interregional traffic and reduce construction impacts, time, and cost. EPIC joined conservation partners in filing a lawsuit in April 2012 challenging the Willits Bypass. Caltrans must consider alternatives that do not fill wetlands, harm endangered species and respects the local community.

QuoteHighway 101 is NOT Interstate 5.  We do not need, want, or can afford larger, heavier trucks on Highway 101, in our neighborhoods, or on our local roads.

Regards,
Andy
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

Mdcastle

This seems to be the Stillwater Bridge of the west. Too bad I'll never get to use it if it's ever completed.

Mdcastle

#12


agentsteel53

something is needed, but not a four-lane freeway.  simply fixing traffic light phasings, and restriping some lanes to be more intuitive, should really help things.

I was there on an unremarkable Friday afternoon around 3pm a couple of weeks ago, and it took me about 25 minutes to get through one mile of road, due to the abrupt drop from four to two lanes just after the first traffic light into town.  traffic was getting through the light, and - due to the universal inability of people to execute a zipper merge - coming to a dead stop.  thus, the light itself was cycling but no one was getting through.  changing that light to a "ramp meter" style situation would actually fix most of the problem.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

nexus73

Quote from: agentsteel53 on October 01, 2013, 04:50:59 PM
something is needed, but not a four-lane freeway.  simply fixing traffic light phasings, and restriping some lanes to be more intuitive, should really help things.

I was there on an unremarkable Friday afternoon around 3pm a couple of weeks ago, and it took me about 25 minutes to get through one mile of road, due to the abrupt drop from four to two lanes just after the first traffic light into town.  traffic was getting through the light, and - due to the universal inability of people to execute a zipper merge - coming to a dead stop.  thus, the light itself was cycling but no one was getting through.  changing that light to a "ramp meter" style situation would actually fix most of the problem.

I disagree completely.  Having been in Willets last April, when it is hardly the height of tourist season, the town was totally congested, worse than any other small town on the coast other than Seaside OR.  Coincidentally those folks opposed a bypass proposed by ODOT and guess what?  They're still jammed up there.

Like I said, if bypasses killed towns on 101, then McKinleyville, Arcata, Fortuna, Garberville, Ukiah and Cloverdale would all be ghost towns.  THEY MOST CERTAINLY ARE NOT! I have been through and past those towns going on 38 years and have seen plenty of before and after.  The Willets Bypass should have been built decades ago.  CalTrans has always approached 101 in a bandaid fashion instead of a systemic one. 

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

agentsteel53

Quote from: nexus73 on October 01, 2013, 08:33:02 PM
I disagree completely.  Having been in Willets last April, when it is hardly the height of tourist season, the town was totally congested, worse than any other small town on the coast other than Seaside OR.  Coincidentally those folks opposed a bypass proposed by ODOT and guess what?  They're still jammed up there.

I was there on Memorial Day weekend and it was pretty bad, but I don't think it was quite so bad that a two-lane bypass would have been insufficient.

the major problem is that 101@20 light.  the fact that, due to a railroad, there are only two north-south roads through the town, does not help matters.  build a few more through north-south roads to disperse the traffic - a solution similar to Tecate, Baja Cal, and everything thins out.

QuoteArcata

speaking of Arcata - that random 50mph segment of dead straight perfectly good four-lane needs to be resigned as 65.  what politican got his assy little fingers into that one?  it certainly doesn't seem to be the result of a legitimate engineering study.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

andy3175

The initial Willits Bypass is under construction as a two-lane limited access facility. If fully built, it will be interesting to see how that affects the traffic through downtown Willits, which will still have California State Route 20 passing through. I suspect old US 101 and downtown Willits will be less congested but still see traffic due to its role as a major stop for services along the highway.

And having been in several lengthy delays passing through Willits going back to the 1990s, I agree that the band-aid approach has resulted in a roadblock in Willits. Taking through traffic out of town will help make the downtown area more pedestrian friendly, which I imagine is a goal desired by some in the community ... but obviously this goal is not shared by everyone if the bypass is opposed locally.

Regards,
Andy
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

nexus73

For agentsteel: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1projects/eureka_arcata/

That will give CalTrans' explanation of the 101 section between Eureka and Arcata.  It is an expressway that got designated as a Safety Corridor, thus the 50 MPH limit and resulting heavy enforcement.

Amazing isn't it, that such a project has dragged on longer than World War II.  We built the entire Alcan Highway in less than one year.  Once again procedure and bureaucracy combined with NIMBYism rules the day to ensure obsolete roads stay that way for as long as possible.

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

bing101

#18
http://abc7news.com/traffic/caltrans-willits-bypass-faces-more-setbacks/135499/

Some parts of the US-101 Construction site has Native American artifacts


Mod Note: Merged this recent topic into an existing thread about the Willits Bypass. --roadfro

nexus73

Read what the locals have to say about the 101 Willets Bypass.  Their comments are towards the bottom of this webpage:

http://abc7news.com/traffic/water-quality-violations-reported-at-caltrans-project-near-willits/107034/

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

TheStranger

Quote from: nexus73 on June 24, 2014, 01:48:32 PM
Read what the locals have to say about the 101 Willets Bypass.  Their comments are towards the bottom of this webpage:

http://abc7news.com/traffic/water-quality-violations-reported-at-caltrans-project-near-willits/107034/

Rick

Very fascinating to see so much local support for a CalTrans project (and their highlighting of how a Bay Area news outlet is handling it in comparison).

Chris Sampang

nexus73

Quote from: TheStranger on June 24, 2014, 04:09:12 PM
Quote from: nexus73 on June 24, 2014, 01:48:32 PM
Read what the locals have to say about the 101 Willets Bypass.  Their comments are towards the bottom of this webpage:

http://abc7news.com/traffic/water-quality-violations-reported-at-caltrans-project-near-willits/107034/

Rick

Very fascinating to see so much local support for a CalTrans project (and their highlighting of how a Bay Area news outlet is handling it in comparison).



If you could see what a jammed up mess of traffic the small town of Willets deals with, you'd support that bypass too.  It's awful!  During the last decade the bypass had been agreed to by the various  regional governments working together, then CalTrans yanked the funding because of pressure from the Bay Area and SoCal for their road projects funding, leaving all those who worked on getting the t's crossed and i's dotted feeling like the carpet had been yanked from beneath their feet.

Tha being said, it's also obvious that CalTrans has screwed the pooch on the wetlands mitigation schedule, the contractor messed up bigtime on the Indian artifacts and some water got dirty that wasn't supposed to.  Oh well, it's the government at work...LOL! 

Whadda mess :-(

Rick   
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

billtm

Will this be a super-two or will it have at grade intersections? :confused:

nexus73

Super-2 for the northern section with twinning to follow is how I understand the deal.

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

andy3175

Caltrans suspended work on the Willits bypass due to several infractions associated with environmental work. The following link gives a comprehensive summary of key dates in the development of the US 101 bypass, with some key excerpts below:

http://www.willitsnews.com/localnews/ci_26088731/willits-bypass-timeline-2002-present

QuoteMany in the community question agency concerns about preservation of wetlands; after all, for them the Little Lake Valley isn't that unique.

The Clean Water Act was a game changer on many fronts and subsequent court cases expanded its reach to include wetlands. Just as Americans, prior to the Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969, systematically undervalued clean air and clean water; most Americans did not understand the role of wetlands in preserving wildlife habitat, flood protection and water purity.

Wetlands were drained so effectively the US Geological Survey estimates wetland acreage in California is currently less than 10 percent of wetlands available in 1890.

It is likely Little Lake Valley would have been reduced to "former wetlands status" following World War II had the demand for agriculture in the valley not dried up first.

QuoteThis means CalTrans knew when it proposed putting a freeway through our valley there would be a down side. It seems likely the cost and aggravation of this downside has been higher than CalTrans allowed for.

QuoteMarch 1, 2010: CalTrans submitted permit applications to the Water Board and US Army Corps of Engineers. The applications indicated the project would create 33.4 acres of new wetlands, restore 5.96 acres of wetlands, enhance 1,032.9 acres of existing wetlands and preserve 1,122.11 acres of wetlands. This proposal replaced CalTrans earlier plans to create 65 acres of new wetlands.

CalTrans insisted at that time it had no responsibility to share its mitigation plans with the public. The Regional Water Quality Control Board and the US Army Corps of Engineers overruled CalTrans and insisted the mitigation plans be made public.

April 2010: All bypass roadway construction drawings and specifications were complete and ready for bid.

With the roadway project design and right of way acquisition on schedule, CalTrans environmental representatives were under increasing pressure to resolve the permits and avoid delaying the bypass project, again.

This new mitigation plan led to a $14.7 million windfall for local property owners when CalTrans decided to purchase the more than 2,000 acres of "mitigation properties." CalTrans committed to purchase these properties without any clear agreement with the regulatory agencies about what the mitigation would look like.

Some CalTrans representatives at the time expressed the view it should be enough that the 2,000 acres was in state hands and exempt from future development. Some CalTrans representatives advised land owners they would be allowed to lease back their former property for grazing cattle in perpetuity. While CalTrans agents told cattle owners this, the actual leases included language allowing CalTrans to change the conditions at will.

The permit hierarchy required the Water Board to act on the Clean Water Act Section 401 permit before the Corps ruled on the 404 permit.

QuoteAugust 2013: The project's lack of compliance was affirmed by an August 24 letter from the Corps, citing missed deadlines and failure to provide appropriate documentation. The Corps required CalTrans to complete the site preparations, which were supposed to have been completed in June 2013, by October 2013.

QuoteSeptember 2013: CalTrans apprised local tribes it had "impacted a cultural site" by failing to properly mark it on maps. The site was one the Sherwood Valley Rancheria pointed out to CalTrans in May as being at risk. By the time CalTrans looked into it, several feet of topsoil had been removed, a significant number of wick drains had perforated it and several feet of fill had covered it.

QuoteFebruary/March 2014: CalTrans preparations for winter failed during rains in near Haehl Creek. This resulted in substantial amounts of mud from the southern interchange entering local creeks and disrupting the salmonid spawning activity. CalTrans received a notice of violation for this failure. The Water Board inspector noted CalTrans had not followed its own state-wide best management practices.

QuoteJune 2014: CalTrans notified local tribes that it had installed a water line through a marked cultural site. The stakes marking the site had been knocked over by cows.

June 20, 2014: The US Army Corps of Engineers suspended the 404 permit, essentially stopping the roadway construction. The suspension noted that CalTrans has not even completed the required baseline study (which requires a full calendar year to complete) for the eight parcels it was supposed to have started the mitigation wetland establishment and rehabilitation on in July 2013 and completed by January 2014.
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com



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