The non-subscriber view of Bruce Anderson’s column leaves just enough to draw the curiosity.
RIVETING HED from Monday’s Ukiah Daily Journal, and above the fold, too: “CalTrans eases deadline on relinquishment agreement.” The story had to do with the Willits Bypass, a mythical project currently running neck and neck with Big Foot in ultimate likelihood. The Wil lits Bypass, given the givens of accelerating civic bankruptcy, might get half-done as work halts with a single off-ramp dead-ending at David and Ellen Drell’s house with the assurance, “Lannie Cotler. Three More Miles.”
So what happens to the matching funds if they don’t finish? Plus they’ve already condemned a bunch of land. Anyone know the story?
Here’s the referenced UDJ article and a more recent one on the funding.
Sohum Parlance II 
22 comments
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July 2, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Ben
I hear that the State will turn over maintenance of the old highway to the County. Unacceptable to the County. My friends near the bypass route are quite sure it will not happen.
July 3, 2010 at 3:50 pm
ED Denson
Nice a town as Willits is, the bypass is long overdue and will be welcomed by those of us who travel from Humboldt to the south. Willits is a real bottleneck, especially northbound where the backup for the Safeway traffic light can extend a mile or so. Even those of us clever enough to hug the curb can lose 10-15 minutes there.
So, lets hope they are shovel ready and cash ready, and actually do it. Then they can bypass Richardson Grove, Hopland, and Confusion Hill to Rt 1. My heart sings to think of it. May I live long enough to drive it.
July 3, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Eric Kirk
Hopland doesn’t seem worth it. I’ve never really been slowed much there.
July 5, 2010 at 12:27 pm
edsvoice
Just since 1994, Cloverdale was bypassed by 101. Does anyone ever stop in Cloverdale? Who benefited from the bypass, Cloverdale? Why do we need to go faster. I thought that’s why people moved to the Country, to get away from the fast pace of City life?
July 5, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Anonymous
Cloverdale is actually booming these days.
July 5, 2010 at 3:06 pm
anon
i’ve never lost more than five minutes in willits–what’s hour hurry ED? getting your clients to jail on time??? (just kidding, you’re my mouthpiece too)
July 5, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Eric Kirk
I’ve lost about 20 minutes bottlenecks from the south at Willits, mostly caused by selfish dweebs who drive the merging lane as far as they can and Reagan Democrat types who let them into the center lane. I’ve written about it.
July 5, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Anonymous
Looks like Ed is one of those dweebs.
July 5, 2010 at 8:13 pm
ED Denson
Anon – my hurry is to be there to keep my clients out of jail, quite naturally. If you think you only lose 5 minutes in Willits try this one: check your odometer and see for what distance you are in a reduced speed zone from the bottom of the mountain to the north to the beginning of the freeway to the south, and see how long it takes you to travel that distance. You should make it in a mile a minute if the freeway by-pass is in. You’ll be surprised at the time you waste in Willits, I think.
Eric – why don’t you just get into the faster lane? That’s what it is there for. If everyone figures it out the lanes will equalize in their traffic numbers. The hold up is not merging traffic, it is the reduction to one lane and the Safeway traffic light. If the light were always green traffic would move with a significant back up, I think. Have you ever tried going through the Safeway parking lot and north a couple of blocks to avoid the holdup at the light? It doesn’t work well, but it does provide variety. There is also a backroads bypass of Willits but you’ll need a map to figure it out. Leaves 101 at the bottom of the northern mountain and returns at the last gas station to the south (or vice versa). Very pleasant drive, pretty scenery, and long enough to probably save no time.
July 5, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Eric Kirk
Ed – if everybody got out of the “faster lane,” early, the bottleneck wouldn’t happen. In New York City, they won’t let you in from there. The drivers there are all somehow trained to dart with each stop and go, and if you’re caught in that lane you could be there for awhile. The end result is that the traffic flows much more smoothly.
Um. But I didn’t mean to call you a dweeb. I guess I missed that post.
July 6, 2010 at 8:53 pm
ED Denson
Sure the bottleneck would happen. If merging lanes were causing the blockage there would be a long empty stretch of road beyond the merge point. Instead it is bumper to bumper until after the traffic light at the north end of the Safeway parking lot. Biggest problem I see is people merging way too soon. The net effect is to push back cars in the left lane because the cars that merge too early then get people passing the point where they merged and merging in front of them. If they just stayed in their lane until the merge point the “fast lane” would fill up more and the “slow lane” would move faster. Take it from me, I almost went into traffic studies in the early 1960s. I was so astounded when I saw a formula for predicting how many vehicles could start from a stop and go thru a traffic light before it went red again. I’m still a little sorry I got into music instead of scientific traffic control.
BTW what is a dweeb?
July 6, 2010 at 8:54 pm
ED Denson
Found it in the Apple dictionary. “Dweeb” a boring, studious, or socially inept person.
How does that apply to people who get ahead of you in traffic?
July 6, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Eric Kirk
Is that the formal definition? I always thought it was short for Dweeble.
July 7, 2010 at 12:18 am
the reasonable anonymous
FYI, The other shoe has finally dropped on Dimmick’s epic GREEDFAIL:
After several two-week extensions, and despite Kirk Girard’s shameless shilling for Dimmick and Dimmick’s own economic blackmail tactics (echoed and amplified by Girard at the last meeting) the Planning Commission has unanimously rejected Dimmick’s Conditional Use Permit.
I guess its one thing to hijack a C.U.P. from a non-profit that spent years building up the credibility of the event, but quite another thing to put together an event and a C.U.P. application on your own. What’s more, it turns out that organizing a large music festival in such a way that you can actually pay your bills and meet your obligations to public safety agencies is actually just a wee bit more challenging than just inheriting a ranch. Go figure.
There’s no doubt that this creates a tough situation for the Sohum economy in the short term, but hopefully the Mateel’s Reggae on the River will grow to fill the gap next year. Sure, they’ll need a bigger site than Benbow. Wouldn’t it be deliciously ironic if Dimmick loses whatever equity he still has in the ranch to a lawsuit from his many creditors, who gain control of the ranch and then decide to lease the site to the Mateel for next year’s Reggae on the River? I guess that’s too much to hope for… but it sure would be sweet, sweet justice for all involved.
July 7, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Ron de Mammalo
No to the By Pass…No to increased Air pollution…No to increased Noise pollution especially during the 5-7 years of construction…No to increased speeds which will definitely increase the death rate to all living things…No to what monies there is left to be used for a rural county such as Mendocino County…
Yes, to decreased speeds to save gas and decrease pollution and increase the chance of not killing another life…Yes, to enjoy what nature we have left as the areas to the south come north for we have what they do not have left…Yes, to increased use of foot traffic, bicycle, electric and vehicles with a full deck…Yes, to having our monies going to what we want not the state’s decision of failure…
Think for the future is here and the past has been all but eaten up…
July 7, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Eric Kirk
Actually, idling engines are responsible for much more unnecessary pollution than speeding engines. Was any sort of study conducted as to the positive or negative impact on emissions? I guarantee that the widening on 101 in San Rafael has decreased emissions significantly.
July 7, 2010 at 7:04 pm
suzy blah blah
-thank you Eric, that was very poetic.
July 7, 2010 at 8:01 pm
anon
its not that big a deal to crawl through wilits on occasion!…you are the people who would moan and cry (ED) if they took away your cel phone, GPS, and baby monitor…why if in the 60’s these things didn’t matter you they are so important now?…
July 8, 2010 at 9:06 am
Eric Kirk
Baby monitor?
October 11, 2011 at 9:54 am
Jessicia
How many of you actually live in Willits? Because it is not a big deal to crawl through Willits on occasion, but it IS a big deal to crawl through Willits every single day from 8-9 in the morning and from 3-6 in the evening. Not to mention the fact that there are more accidents and fatalities on our street because we have impatient drivers who have been siting in traffic!! No there is a better way to enjoy the country and that is to have the traffic and crazy drivers on the freeway not on our main streets thank you very much. This town could actually slow down without the madness that is Hwy 101 traffic.
June 22, 2012 at 9:36 am
lee
I’ve been hit by a speeding car on main street (aka. hwy 101) and I oppose the bypass.
PS. how’s the myth these days? Will we have a bypass before Mayarmageddon?
July 2, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Michael Gätor Creesley
Wasting 15-20 minutes in Willits? I wasted about 18 years in that dump. If that bypass had been built instead of teased for all those years I wonder if I could have gotten away from that place sooner.