Rohnerville Road reopens to traffic, Jameson Creek culvert replacement nearly complete

FORTUNA, Calif. (KIEM) — Construction of the Jameson Creek culvert replacement project is nearly complete and Rohnerville Road has officially reopened for traffic. The city held a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning to mark the occasion.

The culvert was constructed over 50 years ago with the city saying it has exceeded its design life. It partially failed back in 2015 and was repaired on an emergency basis. Since then, the city secured $260,000 in funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to replace the culvert, and also improve it to provide passage to fish and other aquatic species.

“It has been a long road. It’s been since June the last time since the road was open here, and now here at the beginning of November, we’re finally able to open the road up to traffic. As you can see, we still have a little bit of work going on, but it’s all work that can happen while cars are still going,” Brendan Byrd, an engineer for the City of Fortuna, says.

Heads up for drivers, there will be intermittent single lane closures over the next week or two to put the finishing touches on the project.