CA 271

[Max Rockatansky]

California State Route 271 is a short State Highway which consists of two segments of US 101 in Humboldt County and Mendocino County.  What is now CA 271 was part of the early construction of the Redwood Highway/Legislative Route 1 in the 1910s which replaced the seasonal Rattlesnake Grade between Cummings-Dyersville.  CA 271 was spun off from US 101 in 1970 into something that was intended to be akin to Avenue of the Giants when the modern expressway segments began be completed near the Humboldt/Mendocino County Line.  CA 271 likely would have incorporated what is now US 101 in Richardson Grove State Park if the bypass route was constructed as originally envisioned.  CA 271 likely remains in the State Highway System due to the many expensive bridge structures which can be found in Mendocino County.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/12/california-state-route-271.html

[sparker]

^^^^^^^^^
It's equally likely CA 271 -- both current segments -- remains in the system for two reasons:  at some point D1 expects that, despite current HQ preferences, both Leggett North and Richardson Grove will be bypassed (as per the "ghost grading" north of Leggett) by a 4-lane expressway/freeway similar to that near Cummings or the Avenue of the Giants, in which case 271 will actually be a through functional equivalent of CA 254 to the north.  The second reason is those sizeable bridge structures between Cummings and Leggett, particularly the arch bridges over deep canyons -- it's likely Mendocino County would (or even has) declined to assume maintenance of such, so they remain in the state highway system.  It's still not clear whether the Richardson widening-in-place project will actually pass environmental muster; if enough Eureka-area political pressure can be exerted, those 2-lane gaps on US 101 may, after nearly 60 years, be finally bypassed.  Then 271 can wind its way around the trees on the old 101 alignment, with commercial traffic located elsewhere.