Dedication of a 1.1-mile viaduct as the Jesse D. Pittman S01 Navy SEAL Memorial Bridge

Dedication of a 1.1-mile viaduct as the Jesse D. Pittman S01 Navy SEAL Memorial Bridge

Hundreds of people packed onto the new U.S. Highway 101 Willits Bypass on Thursday morning for the opening ceremony and dedication of a 1.1-mile viaduct as the Jesse D. Pittman S01 Navy SEAL Memorial Bridge.

The 6-mile long bypass includes 14 bridges that circumvent downtown Willits and eliminates the only stop lights on the highway between San Francisco and Eureka. The two-lane bypass cost $300 million.

“It’s a great day for motorists traveling both north and south on U.S. 101,” Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty said in a press release. “I’d like to thank the Willits residents for their patience and support throughout the life of this project. Driving, riding a bike, or walking through downtown Willits will finally be safer and easier, with significantly less traffic through the center of town.”

The completion of this project has been a long time coming.

“A long time ago someone told me the Cubs would win the World Series before we finish this project, and here we are,” Dougherty said.

Retired Caltrans Director Charlie Fielder said the first plans for the project were drafted and submitted in 1957.

“So here we are, over 50 years later and man am I happy to be standing on this viaduct,” he said.

It wasn’t until October 1997 that a state Senate bill gave power to start projects like these to local jurisdictions.

The ceremony was very well attended but so was the live stream of the event on the Caltrans District 1 Facebook page, which 407 people tuned in to at one point during the ceremony. Most of the comments posted on the streaming video were thanking Pittman for his service.

Arcata-born U.S. Navy SEAL Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Jesse Daryl Pittman was 27 in August 2011 when he and 37 others were killed when their helicopter was brought down by Taliban fighters firing rocket-propelled grenades over Wardak Province, Afghanistan, Navy Senior Chief Jeremy Treskon said at the ceremony.

Treskon was Pittman’s leading petty officer and platoon chief from 2005 to 2011.

“38 brave souls lost their lives that day,” he said.

Treskon read the names of all the people who lost their lives in the crash as his voice cracked. He also joked about Pittman’s fondness for his beard.

Culled from Times Standard click to read more