news story / By Zach St. George

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Arcata pretties herself for strangers with a $1.3M stimulus-funded makeover

(April 21, 2011)  Owner Denise Daskal leans against the front counter of Orange Cup Coral Salon and Spa in Arcata and looks out the window. Her salon is wedged between Industrial Electrical Services and Earth’s Store, an exotic imports retailer, on a particularly drab stretch of Samoa Boulevard. The white leather chairs, circular mirrors, and slick IKEA shelving inside the salon clash with the industrial aesthetic outside — but not for long, Daskal hopes.

Starting in mid-June, Samoa Boulevard will undergo a major facelift, part of a long-term project to make the city more welcoming and navigable. The Arcata Gateway Project aims to help people find their way around the city and give out-of-towners a good first impression.

Looking east on Samoa Boulevard ZACH ST. GEORGE

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Arcata received a $1.3 million grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka the stimulus bill) to redevelop Samoa Boulevard between G Street and the railroad tracks on the way out of town, and to repave a short stretch east across the bridge toward Sunny Brae.

“It’s gonna look a lot more polished,” said Arcata’s Deputy Director of Public Works Morgan Kessler. The concrete and asphalt, or hardscape, work is out for bid. The sidewalk on that stretch will be made wheelchair accessible and widened to at least six feet. Bike lanes will be added in both directions, and the road will be narrowed from four lanes to two.

“There’s not enough traffic to support two lanes in each direction,” Kessler said.

Samoa Boulevard was historically an industrial area, with heavy truck traffic to and from the various lumber mills, but Kessler said that’s likely never coming back.

City officials have wanted to make the area more appealing to pedestrians and bikers for years but never had the funding. “Before it was the Gateway Project it was a bike and pedestrian project dating back 10 or 12 years,” Kessler said.

Once the hardscape is completed — targeted for October — Caltrans will evaluate driving conditions on the new road. Arcata Community Development director Larry Oetker said the city hopes Caltrans will determine that the speed limit can be lowered from 35 to 25 miles per hour. Not only would this make the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists, Oetker said, it would also open up landscaping options that aren’t permitted on faster stretches, such as trees along the sidewalks and directional signs.

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