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PREVIOUSLY: Eureka Council Votes to Proceed With Plan to Reduce Car Lanes on H and I Streets

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The transformation has begun.

Work crews have started construction on a $5.4 million road improvement project that will remake four of Eureka’s busiest thoroughfares through a variety of renovations designed to improve safety and mobility for all modes of transportation, including pedestrians and bicyclists.

The most noticeable changes will be made to H and I streets. These parallel north-south routes will be reduced from three lanes of car traffic to two in order to accommodate the city’s first buffered bike lanes — “buffered” meaning they’ll be separated from motor vehicle traffic by a four-foot dividing lane, like so:

The city collaborated with the Redwood Community Action Agency to develop the “Eureka North-South Multimodal Corridor Plan,” with public outreach performed via presentations to the Transportation Safety Commission and City Council. A final design for H and I was approved by the council in 2018.

Other improvements to H and I will include the construction of sidewalk bulb-outs at intersections (designed to improve pedestrian visibility while reducing crossing distances) and new thermoplastic crosswalk striping, plus rapid-flashing “pedestrian crossing” beacons and dynamic speed feedback signs at select locations.

The other two roadways slated for renovations are 6th and 7th streets, which run east-west across the city. More bulb-outs will be among the measures designed to increase pedestrian safety, according to staff reports. In all, the city plans to add 170 new bulb-outs. (See photo at the top of this post for an example.)

These road construction projects are funded almost entirely by a pair of Highway Safety Improvement Grants from Caltrans, with the city providing about seven percent of the project costs, which will be met, in part, through staff time.

“Additional paving work not covered by the grant will be completed on H and I Streets and funded through Measure H and Gas Tax road repair funds,” city staff says in a recent staff report.

Eureka-based Mercer-Fraser Company won the competitive bid to complete the work, which has been budgeted at $5,429,500.00, including a contingency of about five percent.

Reached by phone this morning, Eureka Public Works Director Brian Gerving said the roadwork will continue through the winter, and for now the city is prioritizing the bulb-outs on I Street because it’s slated to be repaved soon.

“The goal is to get those done and complete the paving before the weather turns,” Gerving said. Even if the rain starts before too long, work will continue during windows of dry weather, he added.

Here’s one more design image showing details of some of the planned improvements. Click on the image to enlarge.