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Current City Construction Projects

City Project Title	Project Description	Project Status
Annie and Mary Trail Connectivity Project	The project will add approximately 3.5 miles of paved, multi-use trail extending from the Arcata Skate Park at Sunset Avenue, north through Valley West, and ending at the Mad River at HBMWD Park 1. Key features include the installation of four bridges, one boardwalk, and new striping at Giuntoli Lane and Sunset Avenue.	Annie & Mary Project Information Page
Steel Waterline Replacement Project	McCullough Construction Inc has been awarded the contract for citywide removal and replacement of water mainlines, services, valve clusters, and fire hydrants across the city including incidental removal and replacement of asphalt pavement, concrete sidewalk, curb and gutter, landscape areas. The work will replace leaking steel and asbestos waterlines totaling approximately 10% of the City’s network and will also involve replacement of existing manual read meters with remote read meters to improve leak detection and reduce labor hours. Project Plans: View the plans here.	Project Schedule/Duration: Work started at the end of July 2025 and is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2026. Check out the current schedule here. Project Location: This project will be occurring City-wide. The community is encouraged to view the construction plans for a more detailed display of what work is occurring where. This project is currently wrapping up water mainline replacement along Wyatt Lane, Roberts Way, Stewart Avenue, and Chestnut Place, with repaving expected in January 2026. The next phase of work will be occurring along Maple Lane, Baldwin Street, Davis Way, Cropley Way, and Acheson Way with work expected to be completed in these areas by March 2026, weather permitting. General Traffic Impacts: Temporary water will be provided to affected properties during interruption of service. Disruptions to water distribution to properties has been minimal, with water being offline briefly during the switch between main and temporary water service, however, disruptions up to 4-hours could be possible during this project. You will see pipe along gutter pans and the roadway, and temporary speed bumps within the project area. Please be cautious when driving and parking within the project area to avoid damaging or breaking the pipe. Project Contact: Steven Luu, Senior Project Manager, 707-825-2152 or via email: sluu@cityofarcata.org
Plunkett Waterline Retrofit Project	The City of Arcata has secured funding through CAL-OES FEMA for replacement of approximately 2,900 linear feet of leaking and failing asbestos cement waterline on Plunkett Road and construction of a booster station with emergency back up generator to add resiliency to the water system. The project has been awarded to contract Allen Gill Construction.	Project Schedule/Duration: Work is anticipated to start the second week of July through the end of August. Project Location: Booster Station #10 near the intersection of Jacoby Creek Road and Dubeault Road and Plunkett Road from the intersection of Melody Court to the end of Plunkett Road. Project Contact: Steven Luu, Senior Project Manager, 707-825-2152 or via email: sluu@cityofarcata.org
Phase One of the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Facility Improvement Project	The City of Arcata has contracted with Wahlund Construction, Inc. for Phase One of the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Plant Project. Phase One of the AWTP project will be the City’s largest capital improvement project at an anticipated $54 million in construction costs. Construction activities include, but are not limited to, a new ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system to replace the current chlorine-based system and reduce associated disinfection byproducts, a new electrical building, upgrades and retrofits to existing facilities, oxidation pond aerators, extensive new sewer piping and electrical duct work, a new pump station to the Enhancement Marshes and a new treated effluent outfall located at the Brackish Marsh. Funding for this project, a project funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, has been provided in full or in part under the California’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which is capitalized through a variety of funding sources, including grants from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and state bond proceeds through an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board. Additional funding for UV equipment has been provided in part by a HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The City has received all environmental permits and approvals for the project and has a multidisciplinary team of consultants and city staff to monitor construction activities and minimize environmental impacts in and around the City’s core wastewater treatment facilities and the publicly accessible enhancement marshes. Sections of the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary may be temporarily closed during pre-construction bird, amphibian, and botanical surveys, during pre-construction vegetation removal, during construction and while conducting post-construction mitigation measures. Please do not remove any staking or flagging found in the project area as it is likely either marking an area cleared by biologist or an area of concern to avoid during construction. Construction activities will be ongoing for a duration of three years, with an anticipated end date in December 2025. We thank you for your ongoing support and understanding during the construction period. More detailed information about the project can be found here.	Phase One of the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Facility Improvement Project has completed the second of three years of anticipated construction. The highlight of the second year was the completion of the Ultra Violet (UV) Light Disinfection system that began operating in December 2023. This new UV system shifts the plant away from the traditional use of chlorine gas for effluent disinfection and makes Arcata one of the handful of wastewater treatment plants in the world to disinfect wastewater with UV in conjunction with natural treatment wetlands. Utilizing UV light disinfection in lieu of chlorine gas has been a major milestone for the City of Arcata because it eliminates the need to manage storage of a highly toxic gas and instead uses UV light emitted by lamps to disrupt the DNA of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. This inactivates them and prevents their reproduction, ensuring that harmful pathogens are eliminated, and that treated water is safe to be released into the environment. Other important milestones accomplished in 2024 are: • Discharge of treated wastewater at the City’s new outfall 003 at the Brackish March along the Humboldt Bay Trail. Monitoring results indicate that the new outfall of treated wastewater is benefiting tidewater goby habitat and use. • Replacement and rehabilitation of much of the wastewater treatment plant’s aging infrastructure integral to effective treatment, including retrofit of primary clarifiers and primary scum pump system, extensive installation of new piping, site electrical equipment, and motor control systems, and custom design of a new computerized interface that allows vastly improved control of the flow of wastewater throughout the treatment process. • Near completion of a new electrical building and center of operations for control of 16 new aerators in Oxidation Pond 2 that will improve the treatment process within the Oxidation ponds. The new self-contained and air-controlled electrical building will have back-up power generation for the entire treatment plant. • Modifications to oxidation ponds and pond transfer structures including new weir gates and a 10-inch bypass pipe; installation of a new boat ramp in anticipation of the new aerators. • Major upgrades to the Hauser enhancement wetland pump station and flow structures to allow for substantially more flexibility and control of wastewater effluent discharges. • Start of construction of the new wastewater treatment headworks system that will provide an updated first level of debris and grit removal. This effort began with installation of temporary headworks bypass system requiring complex pumping strategies in October 2024 and was followed by demolition of the aging headworks and re-grading of the new headworks subgrade in November 2024. As of February 2025, construction of new headworks foundation is well underway with several of the 29 foundation piers installed. • From the outside of the treatment plant visitors will notice an enhanced public parking area and security fencing along the Ox Pond Trail that borders the treatment facility and City Corporation Yard.