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The Willits Bypass
by Ellen Drell
The Willits Environmental Center (WEC) was as stunned as anyone else on the North Coast to learn on February 28, 2007, that the California Transportation Commission (CTC) had denied funding for the Willits Bypass. Frankly, we were not unhappy. In fact, there were many groups in and around Willits discreetly celebrating the CTC’s decision. Many see this decision as an opportunity to do something smaller-scale and less destructive to the environment than building a freeway bypass the size of Interstate 5 to ease traffic congestion in Willits.
For several years the WEC has investigated the feasibility of a smaller but equally safe and effective two-lane bypass design that would serve the needs of the interregional traffic and reduce construction impacts, time, and cost. WEC has also promoted many in-town solutions that would reduce traffic congestion. Plans for additional internal street connections, bike paths, safe crosswalks, improved intersection performance, and better public transit have been sitting on the shelves of City offices for years while all the attention and money went to the vision of a Willits Bypass. Perhaps now, both attention and funds can be directed toward more appropriate solutions.
A Brief History of the Willits Bypass Project
Since 1956, CalTrans (and its predecessor department) has promoted turning Highway 101 into a four-lane freeway from San Diego to the Oregon border, and the original vision included a four-lane freeway bypass around Willits. In 1989 planning began in earnest on the Willits Bypass, spurred by the growing congestion in downtown Willits on Hwy 101, which also serves as Main Street. During the public scoping meeting for the proposed bypass, and in many subsequent meetings, citizens and County officials brought forward a range of options from using the railroad corridor, to improving the City’s internal circulation, to building a two-lane bypass. In the early ’90s, planning on the bypass came to a halt and public meetings ceased due to statewide earthquake retrofit projects.
In 1995, when CalTrans returned its attention to the proposed Willits bypass, only one proposal remained on the table--a four-lane freeway along several possible routes, most of them east of Willits through the Little Lake Valley. One route was through the hills to the west, an idea that was quickly dispatched due to the high cost. All other alternatives, including the two-lane, had disappeared without public comment. In addition, because the project would cross wetlands, sensitive plant habitat and multiple salmon and steelhead streams, federal regulatory agencies had been asked to sign MOU’s with CalTrans agreeing to the “purpose and need” for the project. This included establishing a Level of Service (LOS) C for the project. Unbeknownst to the Agencies, this would dictate a four-lane freeway design.
In 1998, CalTrans conducted a detailed traffic analysis in Willits, including an origin/destination study. These studies showed that 70-80% of the traffic causing the congestion in downtown Willits was local traffic. An internal CalTrans study, focusing on ways to reduce rising construction costs, did look at a two-lane option and concluded that the volume of traffic projected to use the bypass was not enough to warrant a four-lane freeway! Furthermore, 2005 traffic volume data show that interregional traffic continuing north of Willits, i.e., the traffic that would use the bypass, has not increased since 1992.
Looking at Reasonable Alternatives
The Willits Environmental Center long ago concluded that CalTrans’ proposal to build a four-lane freeway bypass to divert 20%-30% of Willits’ Main Street traffic was a poor use of money and an unnecessary assault on the natural resources of Little Lake Valley. In late 1999, WEC began to press CalTrans to include a two-lane Alternative in its environmental analysis. To confirm that this request was reasonable, we hired the engineering firm of SHN in Eureka to conduct an independent analysis. SHN concluded that a two-lane bypass was adequate to handle the projected traffic.
We also researched the safety record of two-lane roads in other locations and found that by separating the lanes and eliminating signalized intersections, a two-lane bypass could perform more safely than a four-lane freeway.
Armed with this and additional data, WEC presented the case for a two-lane Willits Bypass to elected officials, CalTrans engineers, State CalTrans Director Will Kempton, and members of the CTC staff. No one refuted the data or the conclusion that a two-lane bypass has the capacity to handle the traffic expected to use it now and far into the future.
The Spectre of the Four-Lane Rises Again
With the passage of the Transportation Bond Act in November 2006, CalTrans, District 1, assured our local Transportation Planning Agency (MCOG) and Willits city officials that the full four-lane freeway project could now be funded. After all, MCOG’s own executive director was helping to write the rules on how projects would be selected and the bond money distributed. When elected officials saw “free” money within grasp, caution and thrift seemed to lose all traction. On January 8, 2007, MCOG voted unanimously to seek $356 million for a 5.6-mile freeway bypass to carry at most 30% of downtown traffic around Willits, and then deposit that traffic back onto a two-lane Hwy 101, just north of town, a section of highway that CalTrans insists it has no plans to widen!
Much has happened since a four-lane was fantasized in 1956. Salmon and steelhead populations are seriously threatened today. California has experienced precipitous loss of wetland habitat. (To be fair, let’s note that one mile of this planned project is on viaduct to reduce wetland impacts.) Precious farmland continues to be converted to pavement and development. We now know that more highways don’t relieve congestion in the long run, and that commuter/car dependent communities are socially and physically unhealthy. The globe is warming, in large part due to our unchecked driving habits. Oil availability will level off and then drop in the coming years, while growing demand causes fuel costs to soar.
In 2006, Mendocino County and all of its incorporated Cities joined in an effort to reduce their production of greenhouse gases in order to help stem the tide of global warming. The State of California has likewise set itself on a course to reduce greenhouse gases. The CTC’s decision has given us in Willits another chance to walk our talk. We hope that those of you reading this article will support us in this effort, and be happy to not bypass Willits at 75 mph on a freeway with no future.
Ellen Drell is a Board Member for the Willits Environmental Center. For more info call (707) 459-4110 or
459-2643.