By LINDA STANSBERRY / North Coast Journal
After decades of disrepair, California State Parks has pulled together the funding to patch a 5.25-mile section of heavily-touristed pavement in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The bumpy, narrow route, pitted with potholes, has been the bane of locals and big tree gawkers alike for years . According to Brian Merrill, a senior geologist with California State Parks, the organization had been awaiting some funding help from the county of Humboldt to resurface the road, but with the county’s ongoing infrastructure woes, this collaboration never came to fruition. So when a key bit of state funding – requested for years – came through, the park decided to get going. The lone hitch: A potentially major inconvenience for those hoping to use that stretch of Mattole Road, which goes from U.S. Highway 101 west to the Grasshopper Road intersection, connecting the remote Mattole Valley with the highway. Paving is set to begin in mid-July, and exactly how long it will last — well — Merrill wants to hear how you feel about that. Read more