Construction begins on 14th Street First Slough Connectivity Project in Eureka

Construction season in Eureka began in June with improvements across the city.

On 14th Street, a new First Slough Fish Passage, Floodplain Restoration, and Coastal Habitat Connectivity Project.

That’s a lot of words that mean they’re removing barriers for fish to travel around our area.

“This project has been a long time in the works. The City of Eureka partnering with fish and wildlife has been looking into this area, researching, studying, you know, the issues that are here,” City of Eureka project manager Brittany Powell said.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is funding the nearly $5 million project with their Fisheries Restoration Grant Program.

14th, N and P streets will be excavated as a pathway is made for local fish.

New culverts are being installed as part of the connectivity project to help better connect the fish to their natural habitat.

Crews are also adding new culverts to 15th and m streets.

The current culverts act more as a barrier, which is not ideal for the salmonoids as they swim upstream under 14th Street.

“In addition to the culverts in the passage for the fish, we’re also doing a ton of restoration in the Cooper Gulch area which is really improving the habitat in those locations,” Powell said.

This includes vegetation management which is removing weeds and bushes in the area near Cooper Gulch.

It takes time to finish this project because of what lies beneath it.

“There’s critical infrastructure on 14th Street that runs parallel that we have to really be careful to protect and support. Some of that would be gas lines, water lines, AT&T. A lot runs parallel with 14th Street,” Powell said. “And so when we’re getting into the ground, putting in a culvert, it’s going to take a lot of work for the safety of the contractors, the roadway users, so it’s best to make sure it’s closed and safe.”

The construction will last until sometime in October with detours expected for those traveling or living nearby 14th Street.

The First Slough Project is expected to completely wrapped up by next March.