Diagram of a bike and pedestrian trail and photo of the bridge over the Eureka slough. from GHD’s “Humboldt Bay Rail-With-Trail.” report 2012.
Highway 101, building a trail, and clearing and repairing tracks for an excursion train. But we have to have priorities. (One of the NCRA directors said, “We can’t all get through the door at the same time. We have to take turns.”) Here are some key recommendations from the report: • NCRA should state its support for a broad-based community coalition to advocate for the investment of public and private funds to restore the Humboldt Bay rail corridor, in whole or in part, clearly incorporating trail development into such restoration generally consistent with NCRA trail policy; • NCRA should prioritize rail infrastructure restoration and trail development in the Eureka-Arcata corridor to more clearly align its objectives with those of Caltrans’ U.S. 101 Corridor Improvement Project. [Actually, it’s HCAOG’s project.]
• NCRA should also prioritize rail restoration in the Arcata to Samoa corridor in order to facilitate the restoration of passenger excursion service. How do we find the money to repair the railroad bed, to stop it from further erosion and to actually maintain it until rail service comes back when the NCRA is broke? By combining it with the goals of every other public agency and private organizations we’ve been talking to these past eight months: Bay [T]rail Advocates want the trail. Timber Heritage Association wants an excursion train. Caltrans wants, needs a safe bike and pedestrian path. Coastal Conservancy and Coastal Commission want that critical link in the California Coastal Trail. The cities of Eureka and Arcata want greater, safer connectivity and healthy recreational choices. The chambers of commerce and tourism industry should want Eureka to become a major destination point for bicycle tourism.
This is where priorities come in. The NCRA committee found that “limited exceptions to the NCRA’s trail policy may be practical” to facilitate the trail and to attract those dollars we need to repair and maintain the railroad prism. One example given was the Eureka Slough Bridge. What we’d all like to do — those who want to see both a trail and a rail excursion train — is to cantilever the bike and pedestrian trail alongside the bridge. But since that is a very expensive project and the train isn’t ready to run all the way to Eureka yet, can we use the bridge for the trail until rail service returns? I have an idea. Let’s demonstrate that we can all work together for common
goals. The NCRA board is making a special effort to return to Humboldt to adopt a resolution implementing key elements of the report Dec. 12. Let’s show them that this community is more united than divided. Let’s all show up and tell them we support the committee and then let’s get to work to make things happen.
– Judy Hodgson hodgson@northcoastjournal.com The NCRA Humboldt Bay Rail Corridor Committee Report and all supporting documents are on file at http://www. northcoastrailroad.org/meetings.html# under Nov. 14, 2012 Agenda.
northcoastjournal.com • North Coast Journal • Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012
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