Fixing former California wagon trail could cost taxpayers billions and destroy ancient redwoods

California taxpayers are staring down a multibillion-dollar price tag to rescue one of the state’s most unstable highways, a collapsing coastal stretch that is quite literally sliding into the ocean.The California Department of Transportation is now advancing a plan to bore a 1.1-mile tunnel through redwood forest to bypass the deteriorating “Last Chance Grade” section of US Highway 101, with the project estimated to cost $2.5 billion.That staggering figure comes after more than a decade of study, outreach and planning, capped by a 712-page environmental impact report that cost $55 million and was released in late May.Next up, Caltrans is expected to ask the California Transportation Commission for $225 million later this summer just to fund the tunnel’s design phase, bringing in international experts in seismic tunnel construction.The proposed fix targets a three-mile stretch of highway in Del Norte County that clings to fog-covered cliffs between ancient redwoods and the Pacific Ocean.The route is the only realistic road connection between Crescent City, a tsunami-prone town of about 6,000 residents, and Humboldt County and the broader region.When the road shuts down, drivers are forced into a brutal 449-mile, eight-hour detour through Redding and southern Oregon, unless they attempt steep, unpaved logging roads.The instability isn’t new.The corridor began life as a wagon trail in 1894 and was rebuilt in the 1930s, despite early warnings from engineers that constant land movement would make maintenance expensive.Those warnings proved accurate.During construction, “many slipouts and slides occurred, delaying construction,” according to a 2015 feasibility study.Today, the highway sits on four active landslides and has become one of California’s most problematic routes.In the past, it was reduced to one-way traffic for nine straight years, briefly reopened in October 2023, and has since faced repeated restrictions.The ground beneath it has shifted dr...