The wall went up

Caltrans started installing a tall wooden fence along Highway 1 through Fort Bragg, and residents watching it rise realized the Pacific was disappearing behind it.

What the money was for

The roughly $9.5 million project was meant to fix pedestrian safety and disability access along Main Street, with sidewalk widening that required pulling the old fence.

A gateway, changed

City council candidate Mary Rose Kaczorowski wrote to the Ukiah Daily Journal that the new fence is far higher than the old one and alters the entrance to town.

“This is not simply a matter of replacing an existing fence; it changes the character and view of one of our town's important gateways”

A sea town without sea

Aiden McFadden, who works the front desk at the Seabird Lodge, put the problem in one line. The shorter wooden fence had let people see the Noyo Headlands and the ocean past it.

“We're marketing towards being a sea town, but you can't see the sea. It's a bit of a buzzkill.”

Nobody asked us

Caltrans held an open house for comment in April, but residents say no one weighed how a taller barrier would hit daily life and the view at the town's front door.

“Coastal local residents are shocked and angry.”

Crews are coming back

City Manager Isaac Whippy said permit documents show the fence was supposed to match what was there before, and the project manager agreed to modifications within weeks.

“We have a timeline for the construction crew to come back to town in the next couple of weeks for fence modifications”