I’ll make my stand here: the section of Sunset Avenue where it meets LK Wood and the various Highway 101 on- and off-ramps is the worst intersection in Arcata. By far. Though docile at midday, during the morning and evening rush hours it’s a bear trap. Taking a left through the crush of oncoming traffic from where the Highway 101 northbound off-ramp meets Sunset is a task that eats up precious minutes of my time every day when I make my return from LoCO HQ. I’d damn the thing if I had Powers of that sort. 

Anyway, I was excited (as excited as one can be for new infrastructure) when I heard a while ago that a project was in the works to rectify this situation: the city of Arcata and Caltrans were going to build two large roundabouts and cure this sick puppy. Construction was set to begin this year. 

As anyone whose paths are forced to intersect with that intersection could tell you, that has not come to pass. City engineer Netra Khatri told the Outpost today that’s been pushed back to June 2027; the project will likely be complete during fall 2028. Some “design adjustments” were made, Khatri said, and if they change one thing in a complicated project like this, the fallout trickles down and they have to change a bunch of things. The whole timeline was delayed several months, but the design plans will likely be completed by the end of the year.

The project will add two landscaped roundabouts to Sunset Avenue, plus several bike paths, sidewalks, and two bus stops.

Khatri said that Arcata had received all of the funding it’ll need to build the project: $14.9 million from a US Department of Transportation RAISE grant, $2.5 million from Cal Poly Humboldt, and $1.25 million from Caltrans. The city will kick in somewhere around $200,000 from Measure G funds. 

It’s difficult to estimate exactly how much it’ll cost, Khatri said. They have a few bids from developers coming in under-budget, but, as he gently put it, “the world economy is changing.”

“It’s hard to guess the cost of pavement in 2027 and ‘28,” Khatri said. “‘What would that be?’ It’s hard to predict anything at this point. It’s like Covid times. But, you know, I think we’re optimistic, and we have the money, and if we have to cut something, we’ll cut. If not, we’ll just do what we have to do, and we’ll make it happen.”