Caltrans opens Indianola undercrossing, major safety upgrade for U.S. 101 corridor

Commuters moving between Eureka and Arcata now have a safer way through Indianola Cutoff, with Caltrans opening the new undercrossing as part of a major fix for one of the North Coast’s most troublesome highway junctions. The change matters immediately for drivers, but also for cyclists and pedestrians using the Humboldt Bay Trail, which now ties into the new crossing.

The project separates Indianola Cutoff traffic from the U.S. 101 mainline, reducing the conflict points that made the old at-grade intersection so difficult to navigate. Coastal Commission staff had previously noted that Indianola Cutoff carried collision rates higher than the state average for similar facilities, and the broader corridor plan was aimed at eliminating uncontrolled left-turn movements at multiple locations along the route.

Caltrans folded the undercrossing into the larger Eureka-Arcata U.S. 101 Corridor Improvement Project, which also included a northbound traffic signal at Airport Road, acceleration and deceleration lane improvements, cable median barrier, bridge and rail replacements at Jacoby Creek and Gannon Slough, and tide gate replacements. The agency first publicly marked the project with a June 15, 2023 groundbreaking and said construction costs were about $51.4 million.

The state’s money for the work was approved earlier. In May 2021, the California Transportation Commission allocated $58,721,000 for the Eureka/Arcata Corridor Improvement project, underscoring that the Indianola work was part of a much larger transportation rebuild rather than a single isolated intersection project. In Humboldt County, where Highway 101 is the spine linking the region’s two largest cities, those corridor upgrades affect business deliveries, school traffic, emergency response and the daily flow between Arcata and Eureka.

Caltrans has also attached a memorial name to the new structure. The state now recognizes the State Route 101 crossing at Indianola Cutoff Undercrossing BR#04-0314, near post mile 82.70, as the Brad Mettam Memorial Interchange. Brad Mettam, a retired Caltrans District 1 executive and deputy district director for Planning and Local Assistance in Eureka, died in Eureka on Aug. 6, 2024. His widow, Diane Mettam, took part in the May 28 ribbon-cutting.

The opening closes a long-planned chapter for a corridor that local residents have treated as more than a traffic inconvenience. It was a safety problem, a delay point and a daily risk on the route between Humboldt County’s central communities, and the new undercrossing is now in place to handle that burden with fewer conflict points and a clearer path through the highway network.