By Samuel Strait – Reporter at Large – June 29, 2022 Not many of us in Del Norte County have continued to follow the "Last Chance Grade" follies, as the "State" continues to assure us that things are well in hand. Since the landslide which removed a substantial portion of Highway 101 south of Crescent City in February 2021 we are being informed that just maybe, the road would be reestablished to two way traffic "sometime" in the fall of 2022, "barring unforeseen circumstances". After nearly two years of sometimes one way traffic, lengthy delays up to four hours, and now three stoplights for construction, the roadway "could return" to what passes for a highway that most other Californians have enjoyed without a lengthy interruption through out the state. Guess that tells us here in the County what to expect from Sacramento, our fine representatives there and the one looking after us at the Federal level. Appearing in most mailboxes recently was "the Progress Update" of the work currently in progress on the "Grade" featuring ground anchors, walers, and steel piles meant to assure us that the roadway would be "safe" to return to use in the near future. Coupled with a massive financial investment, the slope above the "grade" was being stabilized with an anchored cable net drapery system, yet no mention of an actual "solution" for the problem currently beyond the interminable round of talking the issue to death. Clearly environmental impacts will be on the forefront of any solution, at least that is the over all impression given. As we have known for some time there are but two alternatives that continue to be "studied" into likely oblivion. Alternative "F" with a hefty price tag is a tunnel "deep underground", which seeks to avoid environmental impacts, side step landslides, and enhance "safety". The idea that powerless Del Norte County is even on the radar of those in Sacramento make this option the proverbial "Hail Mary" kind of solution. Alternative "X", the odds on favorite, is merely to continue to flail away at the current right of way with " improvements far beyond the scope of emergency repairs". We seemed to have heard that one before. Lots of "word salad" in the flyer to cover the fact that any solution will be a long time coming and more likely to be a bigger, better, band aide which will do nothing about the well known fact that the mountain of which "Last Chance Grade" is affixed to will eventually find itself in the Pacific Ocean. Of course there is the usual palliative of "work behind the scenes", "value analysis completed", "moving from map to project description", "minimizing impacts", and finally "staying on schedule" with appropriate graphics and no firm commitment to any "begin construction phase". How completely reassuring. Not sure what anyone is to make of this recent and likely expensive effort except it will be awhile before anything gets beyond the paperwork stage. There is one thing that is notable, in that neither the City's Council or the County Board of Supervisors has taken note of the direction nor dilatory fashion that this project is set to proceed. There continues to be a sense of glacial speed with which this project is moving forward. As the City continues to be fascinated by dreams of a Disney like park at Beachfront and the County is hiring and expanding like there is no tomorrow, perhaps "Climate Change" will make the problem moot.