McKinleyville road projects advance with Measure O funding support

McKinleyville is seeing its most concrete road and safety upgrades in years, with county public works mapping out repaving, trail-crossing fixes and school-zone changes that will reach streets people use every day. At the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee’s May 27 meeting at McKinleyville Middle School, 2285 Central Avenue, Humboldt County Public Works Director Tom Mattson laid out projects that are being tied to Measure O money while the county still faces a road backlog of more than $500 million.

The biggest ticket item is Central Avenue between Bella Vista Road and Turner Drive, where repaving is estimated at $900,000. Another $252,630 is planned for safety work at the Hammond Trail crossing on Hiller Road and the Mid-Town Trail crossing near Washington Avenue and Oakdale Drive. The county has also budgeted $200,000 for crosswalk enhancements, though final locations have not yet been locked down.

Some of the most visible changes will come near McKinleyville Middle School. County meeting minutes from January show a redesign of Central Avenue in front of the school that would reduce the current two northbound lanes to one northbound lane, with the other lane reserved for right turns. Flashing speed-limit signs are part of that package, along with the school-hour 25 mph limit and the 35 mph limit that applies after hours.

Those same minutes show the county is looking at radar feedback speed signs, a lead pedestrian interval at the signal, possible crosswalk art, sidewalk improvements from the school to Eureka Natural Foods, and a new pathway on school property to ease congestion. County planners also discussed possible bus-only exit changes and staggered release times, a sign that the traffic problems around the school are being treated as more than a paint-and-signs fix.

Measure O is the funding engine behind much of the work. Humboldt County voters approved the 1-cent sales tax on Nov. 5, 2024, with 63% support after the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on July 23, 2024 to place it on the ballot. County materials say the measure is expected to bring in about $24 million a year and could help unlock state and federal matching funds, a critical point as public works tries to chip away at long-deferred repairs.

The McKinleyville corridor has been moving in this direction for months. County records show the Hiller Road Quick-Build Project as a temporary safety effort between McKinleyville Avenue and Central Avenue, with installation beginning Sept. 25, 2025 and mural painting by local artists on Oct. 17-19, 2025. Earlier committee minutes also described a raised crosswalk where the Mid-Town Trail enters Hiller Road near the Head Start buildings. Taken together, the projects show a small but real shift: McKinleyville is no longer just talking about safer streets and crossings, it is starting to build them.