Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter
Crescent City’s public works director on Monday unveiled a Pebble Beach Drive that’s completely different from the eroded remnant an atmospheric river left behind in January 2024.
A new wall system shores up the scenic thoroughfare between 7th and 8th streets. Constructed of vertical piles, soil nails and reinforced shotcrete, it’s been sculpted and stained to mimic the surrounding bluff, according to Public Works Director David Yeager. A rock revetment provides further erosion control and a landscape contractor has sown more than 500 native plants at its base.
“We also have a 240 foot wall that is a vertical space and so that brought about the idea of putting in some sort of railing,” Yeager told the City Council. “The most attractive in terms of not being able to lose your view is a steel cable rail. It’s a 3/8ths inch stainless steel cable rail that’ll go through the posts and so you’re basically looking through wire.”
Yeager appeared before the City Council with a second change order for emergency repairs to Pebble Beach Drive between 7th and 8th streets. The repairs stem from landslides in January 2024 that compromised about 250 feet of road. According to the public works director, though an emergency permit and funding allowed the city to do the repairs, it needs to get the California Coastal Commission to sign off on the project once it’s done.
Crescent City is also hoping to convince the Coastal Commission to issue a coastal development permit for a larger Pebble Beach Drive Bank Stabilization Project that aims to repair storm damage from December 2016 and stretches north to Preston Island, Yeager said.
Four councilors on Monday voted to continue the emergency declaration needed for continuing to fund the repairs between 7th and 8th streets. They also approved the second change order that includes the addition of bicyclist and pedestrian amenities, including ADA-compliant sidewalks and a 10-foot bike trail between Brother Jonathan Lookout and 6th Street.
Candace Tinkler, who lives on Pebble Beach Drive near the project, abstained from voting, though she voiced support for the project, especially the steel cable rail.
“We had a problem in the past of people cutting right down there. In particular between 7th and 6th street,” she said. “Cutting down and causing erosion, so I’m happy to see [the rail] go that far.”
The Crescent City Council has declared an emergency for Pebble Beach Drive since Jan. 14 when the initial landslide undermined the bluff the road sits on.
Yeager’s initial project estimate in February 2024 was about $6.68 million. The City Council declared a local emergency for about four months until the California governor declared a statewide emergency in June. That declaration allowed $6.8 million in emergency opening dollars needed for the initial repairs.
But since those funds would be reimbursed to Crescent City, and it was facing challenges with cash flow, officials worked with State Sen. Mike McGuire and Caltrans to get an advance of about $7.9 million.
On Monday, Yeager called that $7.9 million working capital and referred to a larger Pebble Beach Drive bank stabilization project that stems from severe storms from December 2016 and includes the area between 6th Street and Preston Island.
According to him, Crescent City is eligible for a total of $39.4 million from the Federal Highways Administration. The bank stabilization project from 2016 was estimated to cost about $31 million. The new project includes the original $6.68 estimate for the emergency repairs from January 2024, Yeager said.
“We will seek reimbursement for what’s incurred through this project,” he said, referring to the $6.8 million in emergency dollars that will come back to the city for the emergency repairs. “Then we can take that money and put it back into working capital funds so it’ll be available to us for future slides. I believe that money is in the city’s coffers at least through June 30, 2030.”
Crescent City entered into a $226,166 contract with the international engineering firm COWI for engineering services for the project as a whole. Councilors also approved a $3.2 million base contract with Tidewater Contracting for construction.
According to Yeager, the first change order increased the wall’s length and depth and cost about $1.4 million, increasing the contract price with Tidewater to $4.6 million.
In addition to being required to add bicyclist and pedestrian amenities with the second change order, Crescent City will need to get a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission, he said.
Crescent City is also seeking an additional coastal development permit for the overall Pebble Beach Drive Bank Stabilization Project, which extends to Preston Island.
During Yeager’s presentation, Mayor Pro Tem Isaiah Wright said he noticed that construction crews were building a cement wall near one of the homes on Pebble Beach Drive.
Yeager said the reason for that concrete wall has to do with a California rule that states municipalities should meet the needs of all users, including those with special needs, when making road repairs.
“To make this accessible on both sides of the street, we need to get a sidewalk in there,” the public works director said. “We had to put in a slight wall to meet the existing grade. We only have so much room in our right of way, so to make the right of way work and put a sidewalk in there, we had to put in this slight retaining wall.”
Yeager said he didn’t anticipate any further change orders needed for the Pebble Beach Drive emergency repairs.
