Really, it would be fine with me. From the Times-Standard:
A project long in the works to create a four-lane highway bypass around Willits may get locked out in the cold if the California Transportation Commission bows to heavy political pressure brought from the state’s most traffic-impacted areas.
The Willits Bypass on U.S. Highway 101 is one of only nine rural area projects that were recommended for approval in the first round of funding from the Corridor Mobility Improvement Account, which is a pot of money derived from the recently voter-approved Proposition 1B. And it is the only local project on the statewide list put forward by staff of the commission.
But that hasn’t stopped the project from being targeted by urban areas, who think that money should go to ease congestion on their clogged highways.
I’ve been caught in that Highway 20 logjam on occasion, and it sucks. I even posted about it last summer. But I’m not so sure it’s an appropriate use of funds to save tourists 15 minutes of time driving through. I’m with the city slickers. They have congestion problems that are much more serious. I-80 in the East Bay. The transition from Richmond/San Rafael Bridge to 101. The 101 madness in the South Bay.
On top of it, bypasses can economically gut small towns like Willits, although Cloverdale seems to have rebounded from its initial havoc.
On the flip side, if less money was made available to urban areas for highway revision, maybe they would opt for more public transportation projects.
14 comments
Comments feed for this article
February 25, 2007 at 1:07 am
Anonymous
Hell, Erik, your outrage at all the ME gens last July trying to cut in front of you taint nothing compared to what the ME’s going thru there for Reggae Rising, oops, I meant ROTR must be like. No?
But you got the right idea, don’t let the little fuckers get away with it – squeeze them out.
Now you understand why some drivers pack heat.
February 25, 2007 at 4:51 am
Eric V. Kirk
Actually, I’m more curious about what that intersection is like during the Redwood Run.
February 25, 2007 at 5:07 am
Anonymous
For one thing, motorcycles are smaller than cars.
For another, the total attendance for the BR is only 5000 – not the 20,000+ we now know all about with ROR.
The 1st weekend in June is not a prime tourist weekend like the 1st week of August is. You do know there are other things that tourists like to see besides the center of the universe Reggae,don’t you, Eric?
But, nice attempt to be glib. Just in case you’re really not sure ask the people in Willits. I’m sure they know the difference.
February 25, 2007 at 5:27 am
Eric V. Kirk
Well, first of all, Reggae is hardly my center of the universe. I’ve attended twice, while I was on the Mateel Board. It’s not my cup of tea. Too many people in one place for one thing.
Secondly, if I wanted to be glib I’d point out that in terms of vehicular accidents, those associated with the Redwood Run far outweigh those associated with ROR. Plus, I average a DUI case a year from the Redwood Run (although it’s been a couple of years since my last – I think the organizers have taken steps to control it). I’ve had two DUI cases in 11 years of practice associated with ROR, one of which was completely bogus and the charges dropped.
It’s true that RR is a smaller event. It’s also true that ROR attendees tend to carpool. And they aren’t driving all over all of the roads all of the weekend. They tend to stay at the event itself.
So yeah, ask the people of Willits.
What I do hear however, is that the shoplifting in Garberville businesses is worse with ROR, so that the businesses hire special security. On the other hand, the fights at ROR are much fewer.
For my part, on ROR weekend if I stay put in my house I’m not bothered. But during the RR we have to leave the area to get away from the noise.
Both events bring money into the community. It shouldn’t be a contest.
February 25, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Fred
I actually enjoy driving through Willits but I would like the option of a bypass. I’d probably stop by Willits anyway as that’s where I gas up on the way north and often eat at their Taco Bell.
February 25, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Anonymous
Many years ago,(1978), before the Cloverdale bypass was constructed, getting through that town was just as bad as Willits is now.
On the big weekends, Memorial Day and 4th of July, the Cloverdale FD used to set up their fire engines with a large sheet right by the main stoplight in town in both directions on 101.
The stoplight would not turn green until ALL cars in the general vicinity of the sheets tossed $$$ into those sheets.
Traffic was backed up for quite a ways and it was obvious that someone connected with the CFD had a traffic light switcher in their possession, just for the occasion.
Nifty fundraiser,no?
I often wonder, passing by Cloverdale on the bypass now, what the CFD is doing for a fundraiser these days.
February 25, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Fred
I used to get Cloverdale and Willits mixed up back when I used to drive down there before the bypass.
I went thru Cloverdale for the first time since then a few months ago and saw no resemblence at all. The place looked dead to me. Not at all what I remembered.
February 25, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Anonymous
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/02/share_the_road.html
February 25, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Eric V. Kirk
Mendocino County has already spent nearly $32 million on this project. It is ready to go. There is no sense in throwing that money away and pushing costs out to an uncertain future.
Well, that puts a different light on it for me. Still, but for the money having been spent on the project, I’d have no problem giving other areas priority.
February 26, 2007 at 2:47 am
Anonymous
I don’t see this as an issue of minor inconvenience for tourists. It is us, the long-time residents of the North Coast, who are most inconvenienced by having to drive through places like Eureka and Willits to get to the Bay Area to help out elderly parents or participate in professional development or conferences. If bypassing Willits makes you fret about the modern world, then I guess you can always move to Zenia or Hayfork or some place like that.
February 26, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Eric V. Kirk
Fret about the modern world? Can you say “straw man?”
I do have to get to the Bay Area to help out my elderly parents. I still say the 5 minutes I would save with the bypass is a lower priority than several dozen Bay Area problems. Fix Santa Rosa. That will save you and your elderly parents much more time. Probably San Rafael as well.
March 1, 2007 at 1:52 am
Hayduke
I am not sure losing the Willits Bypass (which at least for now we did) makes all that much difference in travel time and it was going to make what little downtown there is there dry up and blow away. But it is sure annoying to get pushed around by power politics. Wonder what is next?
March 4, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Anonymous
[L=Eric's]http://redwoodreality.blogspot.com/[/L]
March 4, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Anonymous
Eric’s Blog