There are sections of roads being blocked off all over Arcata right now as crews work to complete the steel waterline replacement project, but one chunk of street next to where B and 11th streets intersect has been closed off for a while now, and it’s not because the pipes there needed replacement (though they might now). 

Apparently, it was a landslide that took that little corner out in late 2024, and it’s not a cheap fix; the Arcata City Council approved spending $200,000 to fix the problem at their meeting this Wednesday as part of a mid-year budget review. According to City Engineer Netra Khatri, decades of water runoff from the street weakened the creek embankment the road sits on, and a “heavy rain event” caused a small landslide. It cracked the side of the road nearest the creek, and the city closed that side out of an abundance of caution, especially because a bus route runs on that road. 

Khatri said that the city completed a geotechnical investigation and survey work last year, and he estimated that the road will be reopened in late 2026 after some summer construction. He said the engineering department envisions adding large rocks and plants to stabilize the slope, as well as some more intensive techniques.