All the hype about the NCRA and their dreams really needs to be separated into two distinct projects. Willits south and Willits north. Then the dream might have half a chance at becoming real.

Not many folks up here in Eureka want rail service restored. The consequences are just too great. We don't want a mini Port of Oakland on Humboldt Bay. We don't want long trains loaded with containers chugging through our Old Town. We don't want the pollution from a port and rail. We don't want our access to Humboldt Bay to be severed by a busy rail line.

Fact is the NCRA and Humboldt Bay Harbor District are joined at the hip. The Harbor District went some $19 million into debt 10 years ago to deepen the channel and now need a silver bullet to dig out of that hole. We have no shipping and without the rail we never will. But tell me how you can justify another $500 million or more in port infrastructure upgrades and another $500 million for rail repair (yes, this from a local politician and rail supporter) without expecting the rail and port to have no limits in the amount of use these facilities would get. Sure, we hear it will only be a boutique port with limited number of ships. Tell that to those who will fuund this boondoggle