Caltrans will meet with local emergency-service agencies and evaluate response routes and possible design changes after the permanent closure of the Bayside Cut-Off, a project manager told the Humboldt County Association of Governments on Aug. 20.
The discussion followed a proposal from Bayside resident Paul Nicholson for an emergency-vehicle-only U-turn with acceleration and deceleration lanes near the closed crossing. HCOG staff said the agency was presenting the proposal for information and that no decision was being requested from the board.
Jeff Pimentel, the Caltrans project manager for the U.S. 101 corridor between Arcata and Eureka, said the closure was made as part of a safety-corridor project addressing serious and fatal collisions. He said the closure is permanent and acknowledged that response times could increase. Caltrans had not yet met with emergency agencies to determine how their routes changed after the closure, he said.
Pimentel said Caltrans would first seek information from emergency responders about route changes and impacts, then consult its design, environmental, traffic-safety and traffic-operations teams about possible solutions. He said the agency would bring potential proposals back to emergency agencies and HCOG.
Nicholson told the board he had been informed that the closure could add about 3.5 minutes to some fire responses and said he had counted 85 collisions over the previous 10 years using information he received from the California Highway Patrol. He also said Bayside-area emergency calls number about 12 to 14 per month. Those figures were presented by Nicholson during public comment and were not established by the meeting record as independently verified data.
The meeting record shows evaluation and coordination are underway, not that an emergency U-turn has been approved or that Caltrans has selected a design. The Aug. 20 HCOG meeting recording does not specify a timeline for the agency’s follow-up.
