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Here’s an idea: What if Eureka’s Fourth and Fifth streets were reduced from three to two lanes through downtown?

Councilmember Leslie Castellano floated the proposal during the future agenda items segment at last night’s meeting, suggesting the city conduct a feasibility study to assess the potential benefits of reducing the number of lanes on Highway 101 through the downtown corridor to slow traffic and improve street safety.

“Come again?” Councilmember Scott Bauer asked after a notable pause. “You mean on the 101?”

Castellano thought it was an idea worth exploring and felt public input on the matter would be beneficial. She asserted that one of the reasons Caltrans hasn’t explored lane reductions on Fourth and Fifth streets in years past is because the City of Eureka has spoken against it.

Castellano | Screenshot

“I don’t know of a time in which the residents have actually been able to have a public process [on this issue],” Castellano continued. “Maybe ‘feasibility study’ is the wrong word, but at least an opportunity for people to express whether or not they would support such a thing and … [to gain an] understanding of the opportunities and challenges of making that decision.”

Bauer proposed a “substitute future agenda item” and suggested the city ask Caltrans to conduct its own traffic study to “inform whether that’s even in the realm of possibility” given that the state agency manages and maintains the highway.

Councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach said she and a city staffer recently met with Caltrans officials and a representative of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP) to discuss traffic safety and lane reductions on Fourth and Fifth streets, but said Caltrans “was a hard no on it” given the number of vehicles traveling on the highway.

“They said basically that they’ve looked at it … [but] reducing it down would cause problems and cause diversions onto Sixth and Seventh, [which] aren’t made and maintained for [that much traffic],” Contreras-DeLoach said. “They were not terribly positive about it, was my kind of takeaway. … There would have to be some other kind of coordination with the city for them to divert highway traffic into the city and off of the Highway 101 corridor because they said that’s what would happen.”

Councilmembers G. Mario Fernandez and Kati Moulton suggested staff bring back a report in the near future instead of pursuing a feasibility study. “Perhaps staff could either get that information for us or get Caltrans to come talk to us so we can have a clearer picture,” Moulton added.

Castellano agreed, and again underscored the importance of hearing the community’s perspective on the proposal.

Reached for additional comment this morning, Castellano said the issue has been on her mind for some time. She expressed concern about pedestrian safety along the Highway 101 corridor, especially with the recent uptick in fatal traffic collisions.

“As someone who crosses Fourth and Fifth streets daily on foot, I can feel the discomfort of the number of cars — the number of lanes in particular — and how that affects the experience of walking from Old Town to downtown and vice versa,” she said. “There hasn’t really been an opportunity for a public conversation about narrowing Fourth and Fifth in Eureka, and so I brought it up at council because I think that at the very least it would be useful to have a public conversation about what that could look like.”

“As a leader in Eureka, it’s my responsibility to give people the opportunity to discuss those concerns and to inquire about what could be possible for our city in terms of planning,” she continued. “I also want to recognize that I am being termed out soon, and I have an internal list of some issues that I think would be valuable to bring to light.”

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What else happened at last night’s city council meeting, you ask?

• Public Works Director Kelly Allen gave a brief presentation on programs and resources available to help residents cover the cost of utilities. She highlighted the city’s appliance rebate program, which offers up to $150 back to residents who’ve recently replaced old toilets and washing machines with high efficiency units. She also encouraged residents to use EyeOnWater, an online tool that helps monitor and manage water usage.

The council asked staff to look into a program that would allow residents to round up their monthly utility payments to the nearest dollar to create a reserve that could be used to help residents struggling to pay their bills.

• The council also received a report on surveillance and dynamic pricing from Swan Asbury, the city’s economic development director. For those who’ve never heard of the practice, it refers to companies’ use of personal data (browsing history, shopping habits, location, device type, etc.) to tailor prices to consumers.

The algorithm-based pricing model is often used on airline and hotel booking sites, Asbury said, but online grocery retailers have employed the tactic as well. While surveillance pricing doesn’t appear to be a local issue, the council weighed the pros and cons of creating an ordinance to address the matter proactively.

Ultimately, the council decided to wait and see what happens with Assembly Bill 2564, which would prohibit retailers from engaging in surveillance pricing.