FACT BRIEF

Is California considering widening a highway through the Richardson Grove redwoods?

Thursday, October 28, 2021

By Lisa Freedland

Copy link

Copy featured image

YES

Caltrans, California's transportation department, has been attempting to widen a 1.1 mile– long strip of highway running through Richardson Grove State Park since 2006. After being halted three times, a federal judge gave the project a green light this August despite opposition from environmentalists and indigenous groups. While lawsuits have been filed to overturn the decision, none so far has succeeded.

Caltrans says the project will enable industry standard-sized trucks, currently prohibited from the route, to pass through, improving the movement of goods and "helping local businesses stay competitive."

Opponents argue the project will "kill or damage irreplaceable ancient redwood trees" and suggest there are alternative routes that can be used to move goods through Richardson Grove.

The project's construction date is still "to be determined," according to the Caltrans website.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Courthouse News California wins fight over contested highway project in ancient redwood grove

State of California Richardson Grove Improvement Project

Times-Standard (Eureka CA) ‘We are standing with the trees’: EPIC, tribes call on Caltrans to halt Richardson Grove project

Save Richardson Grove ACTION ALERT: Save the Old Growth Redwoods of Richardson Grove!

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF BY

Latest fact briefs

About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.