Read this on the drive home and had to pull over for a second. Twenty years old, just out there setting cones so the rest of us can get through construction safely. Some drunk in a Yukon swerved around a safety truck to do this. Makes you sick.
Their story
This page was created 4h ago, as soon as Ronnie’s death was reported. The full story, with chapters and answers to the questions people ask, is being written now and should appear within the hour. You can already light a candle or leave a tribute.
Ronnie Franklin was a twenty-year-old road construction worker from McKinleyville, California, employed by the contracting firm G.R. Sundberg Inc. on a Caltrans road improvement project in Eureka. On the night of September 16, 2026, he was on foot in a closed traffic lane on U.S. Highway 101, also known as…
Ronnie Franklin was a twenty-year-old road construction worker from McKinleyville, California, employed by the contracting firm G.R. Sundberg Inc. on a Caltrans road improvement project in Eureka. On the night of September 16, 2026, he was on foot in a closed traffic lane on U.S. Highway 101, also known as Broadway Avenue, setting out traffic cones as part of the South Broadway Complete Streets Project when he was struck by a vehicle.
According to the California Highway Patrol, a black 2016 GMC Yukon driven by 26-year-old Selah Town of Carlotta crossed from an open lane into the closed construction lane and hit Franklin, causing major injuries. Town was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and was later found to have been on probation for a recent DUI conviction at the time of the crash. The collision closed both directions of Highway 101 for several hours. Franklin's girlfriend, Jessie Driggs, later wrote in a fundraiser post that the driver had swerved around a safety truck at the site and driven straight toward the vehicle Franklin was loading cones onto, and that his coworkers stabilized him and called for help within moments.
Franklin was first taken to Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka before being flown to an out of area hospital for specialized treatment. He underwent multiple emergency surgeries over the following days, with family and friends traveling to be near him. Two fundraisers were set up to help support the family, one of which had raised more than twelve thousand dollars within days.
While his condition initially fluctuated, Franklin suffered a setback and entered a coma before he died on the afternoon of Saturday, September 19, 2026, at the U.C. Davis Medical Center due to complications from his emergency surgeries. His aunt, Melissa Hall, confirmed his death and shared a family statement thanking the medical teams who had cared for him and describing him as surrounded by loved ones, including his girlfriend, who never left his side.
Franklin's death drew an outpouring of grief in Humboldt County, where his case became a rallying point for concern about driver behavior in active roadwork zones, particularly given that a California Highway Patrol enforcement unit had been assigned to patrol the construction area at the time of the crash. As of this writing, criminal charges against Town in connection with Franklin's death had not yet been filed, and the investigation into the crash remains active.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by Lost Coast Outpost.
My nephew does the same job in Redding. This is every road crew's nightmare.