From the Times-Standard:
“…Bottom line — where need is evaluated properly, guardrails save lives and money over time. It’s reasonable to ask why the Del Norte Regional Transportation Commission continues to prioritize STAA Safe-Access projects for accommodating over-length trucks to travel route 199/197….”
From the Triplicate:
“…Now would be a good time for the DNLTC to relinquish its misguided STAA truck funding for Highways 199/197 and put it toward improved safety measures like replacing the Middle Fork Bridge. Shifting funds to the Last Chance Grade replacement would promote a project with obvious economic and safety improvements for the citizens of Del Norte County….”
Barbara Kennedy in the Times-Standard:
“It may be time to consider limits on unbridled growth rather than limits on dollars allocated to infrastructure repair. … There is no sense in building roads that cannot be maintained.”
A recent vote by the California Transportation Commission will provide funding for several North Coast projects, including part of Eureka’s waterfront trail. Find the statewide project list here (scroll all the way to the bottom to the find the trail project).
Lower gas tax revenue is already starting to hit home here on the North Coast. From the Times-Standard:
“If approved the $2.5 million will cover just 1 percent of deferred maintenance on the 1,207 total miles of county roads, of which between 1,000 and 1,100 miles need work, Humboldt County Public Works Director Tom Mattson said.”
With gas tax revenues already in steep decline due to lower gas prices, and infrastructure funds already feeling the pinch, the state tax board yesterday lowered the gas tax. This is just one more indication that transportation officials must start to get serious about prioritization. The first order of business on the North Coast should be abandoning the outdated, oversize STAA truck access projects in favor of funding only true needs – such as a permanent fix at Last Chance Grade.
From the Sacramento Bee:
“…So the board voted 3-2 to lower the tax to 27.8 cents per gallon for the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2017. That move would reduce the amount of money going to roads and mass transit programs by about $328 million next year….
California Department of Transportation Director Malcolm Dougherty said in a statement that the consecutive decreases will reduce transportation funding by three-quarters of a billion dollars over the next five years and may delay projects….”
From the Triplicate:
“…More undercutting and back cutting as proposed in the current Highway 199 STAA proposal would further destabilize the canyon walls and increase the probability and severity of landslide occurrences…”
From the Triplicate:
“I must add my voice to the chorus of locals who understand that the proposed work for Highways 199 and 197 in Del Norte County will not solve current road problems but will worsen already dangerous driving conditions if the work is completed and STAA-sized trucks are permitted to use both roadways…”
From the North Coast Journal:
“…As with the county, city public works departments rely on a patchwork of funding to patch the roads, and the likelihood of some sources of funding coming through is often dubious…”
Another in a series of informative articles on our local transportation infrastructure from the Journal highlights the dangerous disrepair of many rural roads. Putting road maintenance and repair first – particularly where basic access is at risk – is CRTP’s top priority. Maintaining and repairing roads before conditions become so bad is far cheaper in the long run, but with such a deficit in transportation funding, officials are just doing “triage”:
“‘We currently have between $200 and $250 million dollars worth of deferred maintenance,” [Humboldt County Public Works Director Thomas Mattson] said. ‘I do not have anywhere close to enough money to bring our roads up to an acceptable state of repair.’ … Keeping up with the basic maintenance of roads — cutting back brush, cleaning out culverts and repairing potholes — requires $20 million a year, according to Mattson. He currently works with a budget of $10 million, meaning the county accumulates about $10 million in deferred road maintenance annually.”
This state of affairs really highlights the importance of prioritizing maintenance and repair over projects that add new capacity – particularly new capacity for heavy trucks that do disproportionate damage to our roads.