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It doesn’t necessarily make sense for the main north-south highway through Humboldt County to cut directly through the middle of its most populous city. In fact, Hwy. 101 would probably skirt around Eureka, one way or another, if it weren’t for the oil crisis of 1973.

Five decades ago, Caltrans considered a variety of options to divert Hwy. 101 around the city. Alternatives included an elevated causeway similar to the recently constructed Willits bypass and a route funneling traffic westward along the jetties, crossing a bridge over the mouth of Humboldt Bay.

But the oil embargo led to state budget woes, so the plans were eventually scrapped, which means that, to this day, the highway plows right through downtown Eureka, with southbound traffic funneled onto 4th Street while northbound vehicles run parallel on 5th.

This route may benefit businesses along the corridor (just count the fast food joints), it has proven less than ideal when it comes to the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and even the humans behind the wheel. 

A new report called “Dangerous Downtown Streets,” published today by the local nonprofit Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP), highlights the hazards for all modes of transportation on Eureka’s 4th and 5th streets.

While this stretch is only about a mile and a half long in either direction (representing 0.2 percent of the county’s road miles), it accounts for roughly 18 percent of the county’s pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries over the last decade, the report finds.

CRTP also includes some suggested “evidence-based solutions” to improve safety, including new traffic signals and other intersection improvements, though Executive Director Colin Fiske acknowledges that Caltrans is off to a good start with its South Broadway Complete Streets Project.

Scroll down for a link to the full report and a press release with links to a series of “point-of-view videos” filmed with wearable cameras.

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DOCUMENT: “Dangerous Downtown Streets”

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Press release from CRTP:

HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif.—Today, CRTP published a new report entitled “Dangerous Downtown Streets: Safety Problems and Solutions for Eureka’s 4th & 5th Street Corridor (US-101).” The report identifies safety hazards for pedestrians, bicyclists, bus riders, and motorists by reviewing official police-reported crash data, crowdsourced street safety reports from the Street Story platform, and the findings from walk audits in the corridor conducted in October 2024 and a bicycle safety audit conducted in May 2025.

The report finds that, despite representing only about 0.2% of the county’s road miles, the corridor has been the site of 18% of the county’s pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries in the last decade, meaning the rate of pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries per mile is 90 times the county average. The corridor also sees 4% of all bicyclist serious injuries (20 times the county average) and 3% of motorist serious injuries and fatalities (15 times the county average). The walk and bike audits and Street Story reports confirm that, along with Broadway, this is one of the most dangerous corridors in the region, especially for people walking and biking.

In conjunction with the release of the report, CRTP has also produced point-of-view videos using wearable cameras, documenting the experiences of pedestrians and bicyclists in the 4th & 5th Street corridor. These include videos from perspectives that are often underrepresented, including a child and people with disabilities.

“The local community has known how dangerous this corridor is for a long time,” said CRTP Executive Director Colin Fiske. “Unfortunately, not nearly enough has been done about it. We really appreciate Caltrans’ recent actions to improve some of the corridor’s crosswalks, which will result in meaningful safety gains. But much more significant action is needed to make this corridor truly safe. We call on Caltrans to put safety first and begin the process of redesigning these streets now. We can’t wait for more people to die before we take this problem seriously.”

Important hazards identified for all modes of transportation in the 4th and 5th Street corridor include high traffic speeds, as well as hazards related to high speeds, such as failure to yield (right-of-way violations) and traffic signals and signs violations (such as running red lights). Additional serious hazards include visibility limitations for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists, the complete lack of bicycle infrastructure, and unpredictable driver behavior.

The report recommends a variety of evidence-based solutions for these safety hazards, including new traffic signals and bicycle and pedestrian intersection improvements. The biggest change recommended by the report is the removal of a general (car and truck) traffic lane from the current street design on each street and the use of the resulting street space to provide a separated, protected bikeway. This change would produce significant safety improvements for all street users resulting from reduced speeds, more predictable driver behavior, protection for bicyclists and pedestrians, and reduced crossing distances for pedestrians.

“The South Broadway Complete Streets Project currently under construction is a good start toward making the US-101 corridor in Eureka safer for everyone,” said Fiske. “We continue to advocate for Caltrans to fund and build the other two planned safety projects that will improve the rest of Broadway right away. But this other part of the corridor—4th and 5th Streets—is also very dangerous, and can’t be ignored.”

Appendices to the report can be viewed at https://transportationpriorities.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Appendices-to-Dangerous-Downtown-Streets.pdf.

Point-of-view videos can be watched at https://tinyurl.com/4th5thPOV.