Cobb >> Despite six months of roadwork slowing traffic directly in front of their driveway Helen Whitney and Wiley Weiss spent three weeks planning a thank you dinner for an entire highway work crew of approximately 30 people. It was just their way of recognizing a group helping the county recover from the fires.
“They have worked harder than most from what I’ve seen,” said Weiss, who lost his home in the Valley Fire and has been staying at Whitney’s since. “Hard work deserves a reward.”
The dinner took place at Whitney’s home on Cobb Mountain Wednesday evening. After setting down their equipment for the day, the crews from Granite Construction, CalTrop and CalTrans walked up the hill for a catered meal, wine and beer and an evening of gratitude. “Not everybody’s happy that we’re out here because they get caught up in traffic control,” said Cathi Larson, a flagger on the project. “This makes me feel like we’re doing a good job and somebody appreciates us.”
Over the past six months there have been countless shows of appreciation for firefighters, EMTs, PG&E and other crews. Highway workers and road crews, on the other hand, don’t seem to get nearly as much love. In fact, Gary Lambeth, a CalTrop inspector on the project, said thank you dinners such as Wednesday’s aren’t only rare, but unheard of.
He remembered the moment his boss learned of the dinner. He was more than a little surprised. “That was his first comment: ‘What? They’re thanking the whole entire crew that held them up and made it an inconvenience for them to commute?’” Lambeth recalled.
But Weiss knew that without the road crews Hwy. 175 would have been in trouble. The fire caused a good deal of erosion, which could have resulted in rock slides and other issues. The drainage systems were completely compromised and plastic culverts needed to be replaced with steel ones. Then there was the matter of heavy levels of traffic, with teams traveling in and out to remove debris and trees.
They also work grueling schedules, with shifts up to 12 hours a day. In order to complete their work in an allotted time set by FEMA and tend to the areas in danger, for a month the crews were out on the highway seven days a week, 12 hours a day.
The dinner was a way to recognize the vital and tireless work these crews do. “It’s sort of for everybody up here saying thanks because we can’t rebuild without it,” Weiss said. “It’s not about me, it’s about those guys.”
Plus, the work was very spur of the moment. Lambeth was already in Lake County, working on a stretch of Hwy. 29 between Kelseyville and Lakeport, when the Valley Fire swept through the Cobb Mountain area. That project was immediately suspended and the crew had to shift their focus. CalTrans had 48 hours to coordinate everything and begin work on Hwy. 175.
“This wasn’t a planned deal, they were thrown into this,” Weiss said. “It was pretty impressive and they work for their money.”
Weiss had the idea to host a thank you dinner after watching the workers for months on end. He had a unique vantage point overlooking a section of roadwork that travelers don’t often see when they’re driving through after a traffic stop. It inspired him to approach Larson while she was working and ask about her job. The conversation opened his eyes to the intensive work the crews were undertaking.
“I’d been one of those people stuck behind the gal or the guy with the stick but you don’t see what’s going on when the traffic is stopped,” he said. “What’s sad is the people don’t see what I’ve seen between point A and point B when traffic is stopped and lines are forming.”
He’s also been incredibly impressed with how resilient the crews are, despite some poor working conditions. When the rains hammered the county last month, Weiss and Whitney were driving up the mountain from Middletown, and who should they find in the pouring, whipping rain but a crew worker checking the coverts. “Even the ducks didn’t want to be out there,” Weiss said. “People don’t understand the working conditions these people are in.”
With the construction coming to a close, Weiss felt that a dinner was a good conclusion to a job well done with no major mistakes. The crews made numerous safety improvements, reinforcing and extending the guardrails and sending in a rock scaling team to remove unstable boulders. Weiss feels that when the crew is finished — which Lambeth said should be in about four weeks — Hwy. 175 will be “the safest road in California,” he said. “I think you have the best crews in California on this project.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
