http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_5460583
Rail levee, signals get construction cash
John Driscoll The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 03/17/2007 04:20:55 AM PDT
A stretch of seriously damaged levee north of King Salmon may be repaired this summer with a $700,000 infusion from the state to the North Coast Railroad Authority.
The money through the California Transportation Commission was part of an allocation that also contains $1.5 million for restoring signals along the southernmost end of the North Coast Railroad. Approved Thursday, the commission funds are the first sent out to the authority for construction in years.
”This is the first rollout of actual construction money that we haven’t had for a very long time,” said rail authority director John Woolley.
The levee between the Elk River Wildlife Area and the King Salmon power plant has been eroding for years. Waves have cut through the levee, leaving unsupported tracks warped under their own weight. Gravel and seawater have been pushed onto the adjacent pasture. Perhaps of greatest concern is the Humboldt Community Services District sewer line that runs in the vicinity.
”The threat to that is definite so we were able to make that argument,” to the commission, Woolley said.
Woolley said state permits for the reconstruction still need to be obtained.
The funds are among the
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