We’ve filed a lawsuit in Mendocino County Superior Court challenging Caltrans’ approval of the environmental review for its proposed Albion River Bridge replacement project.

We didn’t come to this decision lightly. For years, our group has participated in good faith, attending meetings, submitting comments, and engaging with Caltrans to ensure that the process for this monumental project would be transparent, lawful, and respectful of the historic and environmental treasures of Albion. Unfortunately, despite hundreds of public comments and serious concerns raised by state agencies and conservation groups alike, Caltrans chose to move forward with what we believe is a deeply flawed Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

Our suit contends that Caltrans violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) — the state law designed to ensure that large public projects fully consider their environmental impacts and that the public has a real voice in shaping them. The EIR, as certified, lacks a clear and stable project description, defers key studies and mitigation plans to an unspecified future, and fails to meaningfully evaluate rehabilitation options that could preserve the bridge instead of destroying it.

At the center of all this is, of course, the Albion River Bridge itself — a 969-foot timber trestle built in 1944, now listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources. It’s the last remaining timber trestle bridge on the entire length of Highway 1, and it continues to serve our community safely and beautifully. Caltrans’ current plan would demolish this irreplaceable structure and build a massive concrete replacement costing between $126 and $155 million — transforming roughly a mile of our coastal landscape in the process.

When Caltrans began this process, the agency said it would study both rehabilitation and replacement options. But when the Draft EIR was released in July 2024, the rehabilitation alternatives had vanished. Only “build alternatives” — all versions of demolition and replacement — were analyzed. The preferred design wasn’t even identified until after public comments had closed. This left the public unable to comment on the actual project that would shape the future of our town and coastline.

More than 200 letters and emails were sent in during the comment period — from neighbors, historians, biologists, and even the California Department of Fish and Wildlife — urging Caltrans to correct these deficiencies. But the Final EIR, released on August 8, 2025, largely brushed aside these concerns without evidence or substantive response.

Our petition points out that the project would cause significant, irreversible harm to aesthetics, cultural heritage, and biological resources — and that Caltrans’ so-called “mitigation measures” are vague, unenforceable, and in some cases postponed until after project approval. This is not what CEQA allows.

With this filing, we’re asking the Court to set aside Caltrans’ approvals and require the agency to prepare a legally adequate EIR — one that fully and fairly considers feasible alternatives to demolition, includes real mitigation commitments, and respects the spirit and intent of CEQA.

We love this place. We believe it’s possible to meet safety needs without erasing history and damaging the coastal environment that defines Albion. This lawsuit is about accountability, transparency, and our shared responsibility to protect what makes this community so special.

Thank you to everyone who has written letters, spoken up, and supported this cause. We’re doing this together — for the bridge, for the river, and for the generations who will come after us.