Mendocino County is full of breathtakingly beautiful county roads, but drivers on County Road 404, also known as Little River Airport Road, have little opportunity to take in the scenery. They are too busy navigating a minefield of pits and potholes.
Residents say the condition of a roughly two-mile stretch of the six-mile road isn’t just a nuisance. It’s a serious public safety hazard.
Resident: “We had one of our senior residents go off into the ditch at night. Um, I know that I'm, I'm prior law enforcement and, and an EMT now, and when, when with the fire department and I was taking the driving test for one of the fire vehicles and, and going down Little River Airport Road I hit the ditch and fortunately I'm a good driver and I got back out of it. But it was scary.”
That was Sheila Klopper, an EMT who lives at The Woods Cooperative, a senior housing community with about 150 residents over age 55. Little River Airport Road is the only access to their homes. It also serves the Little River Airport, part of the county’s critical emergency infrastructure.
Keven Radley: “Little River… it is far more—far more than a country road. It is, in fact, a major evacuation route in times of emergency, such as fire, earthquake, or weather-related disasters.”
Kevin Radley is one of the founders of Citizens to Fix Little River Airport Road. He spoke at a recent meeting of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors. The group has collected over 500 signatures and gathered numerous stories detailing the road’s deterioration.
Signers of the online petition described the road surface as “terrible,” “full of deep pits and potholes.” Stories abound of car troubles, alignment issues—even a front panel popping out. The lanes are narrow, with deep shoulders. Drivers are forced to cross the center line to avoid hazards.
Here’s an example of a personal story submitted to the citizens’ group by a resident:
Resident submission: “I’ve had the misfortune to require emergency services twice while living on Little River Airport Road. I was in excruciating pain both times, made worse by the ride in the back of an ambulance. My pain increased exponentially as I rode down the hill. While I believe the ambulance drivers were skilled, it’s nearly impossible to avoid the massive disrepair on both sides of this road.”
Barbara Schneider, a member of the Albion and Little River Fire Department and a supporter of the citizens’ group, agrees.
Schneider: “I’ve worked with a lot of patients who said that they—the ambulance ride—was the worst part of their injury.”
Vicki Wedegaertner, another member of the group, says the road needs structural repair—not just more patchwork.
Wedegaertner: “There's what they have done and what they continue to do, which is like basically a repair that lasts until the next rain, and that is what's called temp—or cold patch. And that's all they've done in the last… and so what they need to do is what they call chip seal. And they have done that on certain roads that I think are kind of, um, prioritized by the specific, um, supervisors of those districts. I think they get the Cadillac treatment.”
To get a chip seal, the group must first navigate financial and political realities. Howard Dashiell heads the county Department of Transportation. His department is responsible for maintaining over 1,000 miles of road—about 650 of which are surfaced, and 350 are dirt.
Dashiell recently sat down for an interview with Karen Ottobani, host of TKO, a KZYX show that airs at 9 a.m. on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month.
Dashiell admits that Mendocino County roads are among the worst in the state—and that it will cost between $600 million and $700 million to fix them to a “pavement condition index” between 80 and 100. But he says that’s not realistic.
Dashiell: “That’s why that’s a $120 million, 20-year plan—because there’s no way I’m ever gonna do a $600–700 million dollar plan. It’s just—it’ll never be achieved. I’m trying to get our roads back up to between, you know, 50 and 70. You know, I’m looking for a C, a C+.”
The surprise for the citizens’ group? Little River Airport Road isn’t even part of that 20-year plan.
Wedegaertner: “I found in the county records—or the county website—that there was a 20-year plan for roads to be fixed, which roads would be fixed, and it had a timeline. You know, next year will be these roads, you know, five years from now it will be these other roads. And I kept looking and looking and looking and looking—and Little River Airport Road did not even make the list to be repaired in 20 years. Which is shocking. Shocking.”
Dashiell acknowledges that some roads in poor condition are not on the plan.
Dashiell: “And my option there is to simply look at roads in the plan that are properly repaired, that don’t require as much normal county crew routine maintenance after they’re properly repaired, for the crew to go out and do a more—you know, put more of their effort into the other roads. But, uh, yeah, we’re in quite a spot here.”
That answer isn’t good enough for the citizens who want to see Little River Airport Road repaved.
Wedegaertner: “We would really, really, really like to know exactly how it’s decided what roads get repaired within any district.”
KZYX will continue to follow their efforts in future newscasts as we seek to answer the question:
What will it take to repave Little River Airport Road?
If you'd like to join the discussion — or propose coverage of a deteriorated road that you believe poses a significant hazard — come on over to the road-repairs channel on the Mendo Local Discord server.
Invite: https://discord.gg/G28ma5uf