The North Coast Railroad Authority and the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation district have unveiled a creative new scheme to kill the gathering momentum for a pedestrian/bicycle trail between Eureka and Arcata.
The two agencies together will apply for a $19 million grant from the state of California to reopen the northern Humboldt section of the line — from Samoa to South Fork — as a standalone freight line. The proposed project would cost $38 million in total; the two districts forecast that the rest of the funds would come from a $4 million federal transportation grant and a $15 million loan from the Federal Railroad Administration. Some of the money would be spent on improving facilities on the Port of Humboldt Bay.
The application makes no specific mention of what sort of goods might be transported on this new, intra-Humboldt freight line. If the agencies have any plan at all, it is likely that they are thinking about shipping Eel River Valley gravel and forest products to the Port of Humboldt Bay, where they will be loaded on barges and exported.
NWP Co. projects that traffic on this line will be general freight originating within the Northern Corridor that will be transferred from rail to barge at a transload facility within the Port of Humboldt Bay. Such traffic could generate about 6,000 rail carloads annually and remove approximately 48,000 loaded and empty truck movements annually from the highways in and around Humboldt Bay.
Since the state funds that the NCRA/Harbor District is targeting are earmarked for relief of traffic congestion, the application has to make the case that Highway 101 between Arcata and the Avenue of the Giants is currently jammed up:
Capacity constraints on existing systems, particularly U.S. Highway 101 that results in travel delays and congestion. The rail service would remove a portion of the current commercial truck traffic on the roadways thus reducing traffic congestion.
Both the Bay District and the NCRA Board of Directors will have to approve the application before it is sent off to the California Transportation Commission. Both are agencies are meeting in Eureka in the coming week.
It’s interesting timing. This application was released just days before that local trail advocates were scheduled to make a presentation to the NCRA board of directors, which meets in Eureka on Wednesday. That presentation is still on the agenda, but now it looks like it’s being overshadowed the new grant application.
Last time the NCRA was in town, several Humboldt County rail supporters took notice of the gathering trail movement that has been eyeing the 10-years-fallow rail line around Humboldt Bay as the most expedient way to get the trail. The rail supporters warned the NCRA that the trail people were gaining power, and said that the authority had to “use it or lose it.”
Now it looks like the authority has found a way to “use” it — at least for political purposes, and possibly as a source of more federal and state dollars. According to the grant application, even if fully funded the project wouldn’t be complete until 2015.
Download the NCRA/Bay District’s proposed grant application (.pdf).
Download the agenda for the NCRA meeting (.pdf) in Eureka on Wednesday, Jan. 9, at 11 a.m. The meeting will be held in the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors’ chambers at 825 5th Street, Eureka.
The Bay District will meet on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m., also in the Board of Supervisors’ Chambers.
This article appears in Send Out The Clowns.
I’m not sure how I stand on the rails vs trails debate. But the Rails people will have a hard time proving congestion between Arcata and the Avenue. One of the joys of making the commute to Eureka is the beautiful drive which is free from cars. Sometimes the I pass fewer than fifty cars. Even the stretch between Eureka and Arcata is relatively low key. Sometimes around 5:30 the road gets a bit crowded but not enough to justify calling it congested.
No one is shipping gravel to barge now, so how can you “remove” 48,000 trucks that don’t exist?
Thanks, 11:19. I knew I was missing something.
Then again, there are some forest products down there, aren’t there? Problem is, there’s probably so few trucks hauling them they don’t stand out in my mind as a problem.
They certainly are not taking forest products to the port, nor will they. The idea that this is a congestion relief project is plain nutty.
This prediction of 6000 rail cars seems pretty optimistic. When the line was shut down in 1996/1997 they only did 6800 for the entire year. Seems like a lot to expect the public to shell out $40 million and not even have a basic business plan.
You can check out the submittal guidelines at:
http://www.catc.ca.gov/TCIF/TCIF_Guidelines_112707.pdf
I just can’t see how South Fork to Samoa fits in to a “high traffic corridor” category.
I lived in Carlotta near the confluence of Yager Creek and the Van Duzen River in the mid-1980’s. At that time, there were big boulders and rocks in Yager Creek. I remember gathering a truck load of large rocks at the confluence of the Van Duzen River and the Eel River in the mid 1990’s. All those rocks and boulders are long gone. Eel River gravel and rock mining has been going on for at least the past few decades.
Yes, that may be true. But not for export from Humboldt Bay. Should the public now invest $20 million in congestion relief money so that a few gravel miners might strike it rich (assuming that there even really is a market for barged gravel)?
Our economy is going to explode with gravely goodness! I can’t wait. Thank you John Woolley!
There are rumors that there are some folks who wish to mine Island Mountain, so they would probably like to transport it via rail to Humbodlt Bay for export – a much shorter trip than to the Port of Oakland.
Sorry, Humboldt Bay. Hank, have you published a story about this?
You mean sorry that you endorsed Curless?
No, I am not sorry that I endorsed Curless.
Just sorry that he will vote to subsidize gravel extraction in the name of “congestion relief”?
A thorough read of the bond initiative, goods movement plan, etc., etc. shows that we probably don’t have any chance for any of that traffic congestion or “corridor of national significance” money. The big ports are all licking their chops over that money and have had this thing wired for a long time…
I think the hope is that $20 million will seem like such a small amount and maybe they will have sympathy for the Harbor District and NCRA. At least it will keep them from complaining about being left out for awhile.
It could be our “train to nowhere”. We could be famous.
Pipe Dreams, cont’d.
At the expense of doing anything that is actually feasible and good for the community.
The North Coast Railroad Authority meets at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, Jan 9, and the Harbor District at 7:00 PM on Thursday, Jan 10. Both meetings will be held in the Board of Supervisors chambers at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka.
At the NCRA meeting Wednesday morning, there will be a presentation on the trail followed by consideration of a joint application for Prop 1B funds with the HBHRCD that will pretty much preclude ever building the trail. See info below.
It appears the HBHRCD will attempt to approve the joint application at their meeting this Thursday evening
Why exactly does John Wooley have this pipe dream? It will never be funded, and we would get wide use of a rail or a rail/trail combination right away. His ‘vision’ is failing him. I hope we wake up here soon, before more bad money is thrown down the NCRA black hole.
WOW–Just read the NCRA/Bay District proposed grant application to the CTC. What a spin on reality.They must think that the CTC is injudicious.For one thing the NWP is not state owned.When did Humboldt Bay become the Port of Humboldt Bay? At a time when the public and Government are doing all they can to mitigate port pollution at the major ports south of us, some here are wanting us to be one—duh. Fact-One large (2000TUE)CONTAINER SHIP=the pollution of 62,500 autos–think about it.
[…] NCJ blog’s slanted outlook. Gotta love that the plan was made up to kill the trail. You complain that NCRA didn’t have a plan, now you complain when they do. Yet you wonder why I said the rails to trails people just want to kill rail. Prof. Just take one of your Mac’s and beat your head against it. Just don’t touch your hub/switch, or it will stop working. While your at it, register your screen saver, I’m sure the programmer would love to finally have their money for the doggy one. […]
Does the phrase “White Elephant” ring a bell? If ever there was one, this is it. If these curmudgeons, dreamers, and CalTrans get their way, anybody who doesn’t drive a car will be kicked to the curb. That will truly be a sad day.
white elephant doesnt ring a bell, but you should check out the theory of the black swan theory. google it people.
i will bring up humboldt bay to him during his lecture at the long now foundation.
I think getting the railroad running even as a short line would be better use of the tracks than putting a in bike trail that few would use. I am constantly driving up and down 101 for work and rarely see bike riders along the corridor stretch. I doubt putting in a trail would increase that number. Most people in favor of the rails to trails idea are idealist’s and don’t have a grasp on the reality which is, how many people are going to ride a bike from Arcata to Eureka when it rains over 4 months out of the year? And who’s pocket is the money going to come out of to maintain this trail (because it will need maintaining)? This trail will not open up any new jobs for the area, at least reopening the railroad has that potential.
And who will pay for reopening the railroad?