Arcata artists and art fans will be excited to know that the City is adding more color to its streets, with a plan to invite local painters to creatively decorate fire hydrants, and possibly crosswalks, along G and H Streets. And the city wants your input on what this new public art should look like.
One of the fire hydrants on H Street in Arcata | Photo from the City of Arcata
The project is a part of the City’s efforts to improve the look of the area of town known as the “G and H Corridor” – the section of G and H Streets that runs roughly between Sunset Avenue and the Arcata Plaza, connects Cal Poly Humboldt to the downtown area and sees a lot of foot, bike and vehicle traffic. Funding for the project will come out of $4.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, $200,000 of which the City Council set aside for beautification and economic recovery efforts in the downtown area.
Emily Benvie, deputy director of the city’s community and environmental services department, said that the project is partially inspired by Eureka’s public art projects, like the murals added to the city through the Eureka Street Art Festival. Arcata city staff have met a couple of times with some of the festival organizers to get tips on how to roll out this project. The idea to have artists paint the city’s fire hydrants is also very similar to Eureka’s utility box art program, where different artists were commissioned to revamp the city’s dull and unsightly utility boxes. Arcata staff chose fire hydrants instead, Benvie said, because there a lot of them (somewhere around 10 along G and H Streets) and they are small and relatively easy to paint.
“Part of the reason we chose fire hydrants initially, and potentially crosswalks, is because they are small, discrete objects that are within the city right of way,” Benvie told the Outpost in a phone interview Thursday. “And since this is a new program, we’re really wanting to start out small to move through the process and sort of work through implementation of that program on a smaller scale.”
Of course, when it comes to painting fire hydrants there are rules that the city will have to follow. In a recent phone interview with the Outpost Ed Laidlaw, fire marshal for the Arcata Fire District, seemed a little skeptical of the idea because of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) regulations around fire hydrant colors. NFPA code 291 states that “the body of all public fire hydrants should be chrome yellow, unless another color has already been adopted as a standard for the community.”
Now, you’ve likely seen fire hydrants in other colors elsewhere in the world. These colors indicate the hydrant’s water flow capacity – red means the hydrant flows less than 500 gallons per minute (GPM), orange indicates a water-flow capacity of 550 to 999 GPM, green is 1,000 to 1,499 GPM, etc. Yellow, which is the color of Arcata’s hydrants, indicates that the water comes from the public supply system.
In addition to letting firefighters know the water-flow capacity, Laidlaw said, the paint color is also meant to make the hydrants easy for firefighters to recognize when they are on a call.
“As firefighters, we know in this area – in the Humboldt Bay Area – to look for yellow hydrants,” Laidlaw told the Outpost. “ I mean, we have maps and data that’s available to us to be able to identify our hydrants. We know where they are, but it helps if we can just see it. That’s why people don’t park in front of a fire hydrant, so that we can visibly see it.”
Though the firefighters are the ones who use the hydrants, they are technically owned by the City of Arcata and the city can choose to allow for the hydrants to be painted other colors. Many other communities, including Emmaus, Penn., Monona, Wis., and Chicopee, Mass., have adopted fire hydrant art projects, and several of them were a collaborative effort with the fire departments.
Benvie said that the City has connected with the Arcata Fire District on this project and will continue to work with the fire district to ensure that all the changes are compliant with fire safety guidelines and standards.
The project is still in the planning phase, so no changes will be made to the hydrants just yet. Right now the City is working to gather community input, to see what type of art the residents of Arcata would like to see on G and H streets. You can take the city’s public art survey at this link. The survey will be open until March 10.
After the survey has closed and staff has had time to compile and review the results, the city will put out a call for artists who would like to participate. The artist will be asked to submit a proposal, which will be reviewed by city staff and other local stakeholders, including representatives from the Arcata High School District, Cal Poly Humboldt, Playhouse Arts and the Sanctuary.
The selected artists will be compensated for their work, though the city has not yet determined the payment amount. Benvie said she is hoping that the call for artists will go out sometime in spring and that the painting can begin in the summer.
“I definitely encourage the public to take the survey,” Benvie told the Outpost. “We’re really interested to hear what folks’ thoughts are.”
Fernbridge, dubbed the “Queen of Bridges” upon its construction in 1911, suffered damage during December’s 6.4 magnitude earthquake.
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At nearly 112 years old, Fernbridge is showing its age. After suffering structural damage during the 6.4 magnitude earthquake and numerous aftershocks that struck the region in December and January, the bridge’s long-term future may be in jeopardy.
“As Caltrans continues to prioritize the safety and sustainability of its structures, multiple long-term solutions are being considered for Fernbridge including further rehabilitation or the construction of a new bridge,” Caltrans Public Information Officer Myles Cochrane said via email.
A “final course of action” won’t be determined without further analysis and stakeholder engagement, he told the Outpost, adding, “If and when a long-term solution is initiated, Caltrans will reach out and provide many opportunities for public engagement.”
More than two months after the big quake hit on December 20, Caltrans is still limiting traffic across the bridge to one direction at a time, with vehicles lining up on either side to await their turn to cross.
Buckled asphalt at the eastern end of Fernbridge following the December 20 earthquake. | Image via Caltrans
Since the quake, crews have made repairs to the bridge’s asphalt and concrete columns, and they continue to patch cracks, aka “spalls,” under the bridge, Cochrane said.
“There have to be safety improvements made, [but] I think it’s gotten to be too big of a cost to do,” First District Supervisor Rex Bohn said.
Two-way traffic could resume on the bridge in late spring or early summer, barring unforeseen circumstances, Cochrane added, and he assured travelers that so long as the bridge remains open, it has been inspected and deemed safe by experts.
At 1,320 feet long, Fernbridge was declared the world’s largest and longest concrete bridge when it opened in November of 1911. Reinforced concrete was used during construction of its arched design because studies conducted after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake showed that the material was good at withstanding the earth’s rumbles.
Alas, more than a century spent atop one of the most seismically active regions in the world takes its toll.
“It remains a structural work of art to this day,” says the narrator of a historical video about the bridge released last year. “Fernbridge has endured the raging waters of devastating floods, pounded by the heaviest drift logs of any river anywhere.”
Fernbridge remains the longest poured-concrete bridge in operation in the world, according to the video. In 1976 it was designated a historic civil engineering landmark.
In 1987 Caltrans recommended studying the possibility of replacing the bridge with a more modern structure, but local residents rallied to protect the structure, with Ferndale’s then-mayor, Richard Farrington, comparing its artistic value to that of the Statue of Liberty. In April that year Fernbridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Cochrane said Caltrans “understands the historic value of Fernbridge as well as the vital role the bridge plays in the Eel River Valley.”
So if a new bridge gets built, will Fernbridge be demolished?
“That’s a great question,” Cochrane replied, “because it allows us to highlight once again that there would be many opportunities for public engagement if and when a long-term solution is initiated.”
He continued, “If such an effort is initiated it would require a considerable amount of further study, discussion and public engagement. In similar instances bridges have been kept for pedestrian use or they’ve been relinquished, which are options that have seen consideration as well. In terms of a definitive answer to that question, we’re just not there yet.”
Bohn said he’s heard that officials are “pretty adamant” about keeping Fernbridge in place, at least as a walking bridge, in which case the new bridge would be built far enough out of the way to retain the aesthetics of Fernbridge’s distinctive design.
“That’s what I’ve been hearing,” Bohn said, adding, “Safety is going to be job one.”
A town hall meeting to discuss the bridge’s future will be held at Ferndale City Hall, 834 Main Street, at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 6. Bohn will be present along with Ferndale Mayor Randy Cady. Caltrans will offer a presentation updating the community about where things stand and what’s in store.
SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE: Hwy. 101 is still closed, as of 10:30 a.m. “[A] contractor is on site and working on clearing trees, utility lines clean up is underway,” according to a Caltrans District 1 Facebook post. “We will reevaluate for possible opening to one-way controlled traffic later today.”
Original post: From the California Department of Transportation:
U.S. 101 in Humboldt County is closed from Garberville at Sprowl Creek Road to Willits at Reynolds Highway in Mendocino County. A large number of trees, utility lines, snow, Big Rigs and disabled vehicles are in the roadway. We don’t have an estimated time of when that section of roadway will be reopened. Caltrans, CHP and many other partner agencies are actively working on clearing the roadway.
As of this writing, Hwy. 101 also remains closed from the junction of State Route 20 south of Willits to the junction of State Route 1 at Rattlesnake Creek Bridge.
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Other road closures, from the Humboldt County Department of Public Works:
Dyerville Loop Road Closed at Eel Rock due to smoking powerline in roadway.
Murray Road Closed at p.m. 2.00 due to ice and trees down near Elizabeth Rd.
Stagecoach Rd. Closed at p.m. .85 due to downed PG&E Wire in the road.
HWY 101 (Cal Trans), Closed 8 Miles North of McKinleyville due to power lines down on the road.
Johnson Rd closed due to snow.
Snow Camp Rd Closed due to snow.
Bair road closed from Redwood Valley to Hoopa due to snow.
Dyerville Loop Closed between Eel Rock and Kennebrew Lane due to downed powerline, PG&E has been notified.
Bald Hills Road Closed due to white-out snow conditions.
Mattole Rd Closed at p.m. 1.5 at Bull Creek due to a slide (State Parks).
Coffee Creek is closed from mile post 1.00 to 1.25. due to flooding.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
Augustus Allen Gibbens | Booking photo
On Feb. 23, 2023, at about 9:07 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies on patrol in McKinleyville conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle code violation on the 2600 block of Central Avenue.
Deputies contacted three occupants of the vehicle. During their investigation, deputies learned that the vehicle had been stolen out of the Arcata area last week.
The driver, 18-year-old Augustus Allen Gibbens, was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle (PC 496d(a)).
A passenger of the vehicle, 36-year-old Christopher James Diven, was found to have an outstanding misdemeanor warrant. Diven was cited for his warrant and released at the scene. The third passenger was also released at the scene.
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
HUMBOLDT TODAY: Yes, we are also going to discuss the snow. From how the weather is affecting road conditions to emergency shelter options, to what Humboldt can expect in the days to come. Those stories and more in today’s newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.
UPDATE, 4:40 p.m.: U.S. 101 has been re-opened from Last Chance Grade to Crescent City, though Caltrans warns travelers that conditions can change quickly.
Photos by Staci Sylvies-Hough, unless credited otherwise.
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Caltrans has announced that U.S. 101 is fully closed in Del Norte County due to downed trees and snow.
There is no estimated time of reopening, as of this writing.
Local travelers have been relaying their experiences on social media. One person said they “just made it through” before the closure. Another was not so lucky and said they might have to sleep in Crescent City tonight, rather than continuing on with their planned travel.
We will update this post when more information is available.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On Feb. 22, 2023, at about 7:35 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to investigate a burglary in progress at a residence on the 4300 block of Fieldbrook Road in Fieldbrook.
Nathan David Sain | HCSO
While en route to the residence, deputies received information that the suspects had fled. Deputies located the suspects’ vehicle on Murray Road and conducted a traffic stop. During the stop, deputies contacted two occupants of the vehicle, 30-year-old Nathan David Sain and 33-year-old Kayla Marie Thornton. Inside the vehicle, deputies located numerous items reported stolen from the residence. Sain and Thornton were taken into custody without incident. During a search of Sain upon arrest, deputies located burglary tools.
Kayla Marie Thornton | HCSO
Sain was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of burglary (PC 459/461(b)), possession of stolen property (PC 496(a)), possession of burglary tools (PC 466) and criminal conspiracy (PC 182(a)(1)).
Thornton was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of burglary (PC 459/461(b)), possession of stolen property (PC 496(a)) and criminal conspiracy (PC 182(a)(1)).
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
