Opponents target dirt for Willits bypass

Environmentalists are seeking a restraining order to halt the excavation of dirt for use on the controversial Highway 101 bypass being built around Willits.

It’s the latest effort to alter the course of the $210 million Caltrans project, which has been plagued by protests, legal challenges and permit glitches. Opponents say the 5.9-mile bypass is unnecessary, too big and unduly destructive to wetlands in the Little Lake Valley outside Willits. Proponents say it’s sorely needed to relieve traffic congestion through Willits, where Highway 101 narrows to two lanes, often reducing traffic to a crawl.

The restraining order request, filed Tuesday by the Willits Environmental Center and Keep the Code, would prevent Mendocino Forest Products from removing almost 900,000 cubic yards from a site the company owns about 2 miles north of Willits. The dirt would be sold to Caltrans as fill for the bypass project, which officials say is now about 42 percent complete.

The group also has a pending lawsuit over the fill dirt, alleging Mendocino County officials and Mendocino Forest Products failed to conduct adequate environmental studies on the dirt’s removal and for a timber harvest plan accompanying the excavation.

The restraining order is scheduled to be heard Wednesday afternoon in Mendocino County Superior Court.