Would the proposed Humboldt offshore wind project increase vehicle traffic?

Many of the components of the offshore wind turbines are too large to be placed on the back of a truck (1) and could not be brought to Humboldt County via our (or any) road system. Instead, they would all be shipped via sea to Wigi (2)/Humboldt Bay. That being said, increased employment on the Samoa Peninsula and in the Humboldt Bay Harbor would likely lead to an increase in vehicle traffic as employees come and go from work. The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District (Harbor District) is meeting with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to discuss increased vehicle traffic on the bridges over Wigi/Humboldt Bay.

Middle Channel and Samoa Channel Bridges over Wigi/Humboldt Bay in 2012, looking south. ("Indian Island" is known as Tuluwat Island as of 2019.) Source: Shamsabadi & Mitchell (3)

References​

1. Apte, P. (2023, April 17). Reaching U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Goals. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/reaching-aggressive-u-s-offshore-wind-energy-goals

2. Wiyot Tribe. (n.d.). Wiyot Placename Video [Video]. www.wiyot.us/162/Wiyot-Placename-Video

3. ​Shamsabadi, A. and Mitchell, S. (2012, October). Assessment of Seismic Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction Analysis Procedures for Long-Span Bridges using Recorded Strong Motion Data. 10th International Congress on Advances in Civil Engineering at: Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. www.researchgate.net/publication/264158580_Assessment_of_Seismic_Soil-Foundation-Structure_Interaction_Analysis_Procedures_for_Long-Span_Bridges_using_Recorded_Strong_Motion_Data