Fort Bragg's New Highway 1 Fence Cost More Than $80,000 — And Hid a Priceless Ocean View

For a few weeks this summer, drivers coming into Fort Bragg on Highway 1 could look west and see the ocean. The weathered wooden fence that had previously blocked the view was torn out for a Caltrans sidewalk project, revealing the Noyo headlands and the water beyond.

"For decades, Fort Bragg turned its back to the ocean — a timber mill, stacks of felled trees, and rows of planted ones hid the view," Jim Heid commented to MendoLocal.News. "With the beautiful Noyo Headlands trail, the city is beginning to rediscover the ocean."

Then a new fence went up and the ocean was gone again. "It's ironic," Heid says. "Fort Bragg has the best pedestrian access it's ever had on the west side of Highway 1, and what do pedestrians get to look at? A fence that blocks the view of the headlands and ocean beyond it."

The cedar plank fence that some residents complain sends a message that "there's nothing to see here" cost more than $80,000.

According to Caltrans, the new fence was bid at $85 a foot for 970 feet, or $82,450 to install, with a separate line to remove the old fence at $15.50 a foot, another $15,035. Together, removal and replacement come to $97,485.

The fence is not a standalone project; it is a pair of line items inside a much larger job — Contract 01-0B22U4, a roughly $8.71 million Ghilotti Construction contract for retaining walls, concrete, earthwork, and electrical work along Highway 1 from Route 20 to the Pudding Creek Bridge. The winning bid came in nearly 18 percent under the state's own estimate.

Chase McPhaul of Ghilotti, the contractor, said the figure covers labor, equipment, and office management, along with a substantial amount of documentation — submittals and a certification that the materials meet Caltrans specifications, which call for boards of a set thickness and grade.

The new fence looks much like the one that was there before — the two are easy to compare on Google Earth — and the Caltrans specifications for the job match the old fence. They call for a cedar fence with dog-ear pickets, fastened with galvanized nails to posts set in concrete: 4-by-6-inch posts spaced 8 feet apart, 2-by-6 rails and 1-by-6 pickets.

The construction drawing an agency engineer signed off on in June 2025 shows the fence standing about 4 feet tall, its posts sunk some 3 feet into concrete footings. The project description the city relied on for the permit says the old fence would be "removed prior to construction and replaced" in the same location — a permit the Fort Bragg Planning Commission approved at a public hearing in July 2024.

McPhaul described the new fence as a one-for-one replacement of the old one — same boards, same height. But residents contend that the former fence provided an ocean view, even if it was limited. And the new one doesn't.

One sent in a picture that shows a section of the new fence side by side with a section of the old fence. The new fence looks to be a foot or two taller.

Under Section 30251 of the California Coastal Act, the California Coastal Commission protects public scenic and visual resources. However, the California Coastal Commission's Peter Allen said the Highway 1 fence was authorized by the City of Fort Bragg's own coastal permit — and that "the replacement should have been in-kind, that is matching the existing fence."

What can be done is an open question. Lydia Ruby Shepard suggested in a message to MendoLocal.News that the cheapest fix might be to lower the fence to half its height in a wave pattern. Another resident argued for open slats.

Still others recalled the days when the view was marred by industrial machinery and stacks of lumber. They said people should realize that a fence, no matter how high, is an improvement.

The City of Fort Bragg, whose permit authorized the work, did not respond to a request for comment.