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Del Norte supervisors end maintenance on a dozen rural roads, citing liability and low use
Summary
After a public hearing, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to end county maintenance for a group of low‑use roads—largely in floodplain areas—reducing gas‑tax allocations by about $3,000 and shifting responsibility for upkeep and access to local property owners and other agencies.
The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt a resolution terminating county maintenance of multiple rural roads after a public hearing and staff presentation.
County Engineer staff said the affected routes—including Del Ponte (listed in some materials as Delponte in the packet), Gatliff Road, Del Norte Street, Crescent Street, Macbeth Way (portion), Del Norte Way (portion), Siski Way, Alder Lane, Laurel Lane, Trinity Way (portion) and Illinois Valley Road (a Forest Service road sometimes listed on Google as Takilma Road)—are not being actively maintained by the county. The engineer told the board terminating maintenance would reduce county liability for those segments and result in a negligible reduction in the county’s gas‑tax formula funding—about 0.2 percent, roughly $3,000 per year.
“These are roads we have had on the books for many years, but we do not actively maintain them—some lie in floodplain and are not suitable for development,” the County Engineer said during the presentation. The engineer emphasized that terminating maintenance does not close the public right‑of‑way and that private landowners or others may still maintain access.
Supervisors pressed staff on two practical concerns: whether removing maintenance would increase illegal dumping at remote access points and how local emergency services would reach residents where housing exists. One supervisor said the policy for “non‑maintained county roads” was created to ensure emergency access to residences that could otherwise be unreachable during adverse conditions; others pointed to photographs of trash and vehicle damage at several sites.
County staff said adjacent property owners are often responsible for right‑of‑way cleanup, and that the road fund historically does not cover regular debris removal. The board discussed signage and recording the change so future users understand the maintenance status and liability shift.
The motion to adopt the resolution passed on a unanimous roll‑call vote.
