Troubled Waters Close Busy Bridge

For hundreds of North County commuters Wednesday, the rains brought both bad news and good.

While they closed one normally busy bridge at the height of the morning rush hour, officials allowed motorists to forget a 50-cent toll at a nearby bridge for their inconvenience.

Oceanside city engineers closed the San Luis Rey River bridge at 8 a.m. despite the lines of traffic that use it as a shortcut to an inland gate at the south end of Camp Pendleton.

The span was closed because officials feared that swift river currents might weaken pylons supporting the bridge, which was built in the mid-1960s. It was expected to remain closed for about 72 hours.

Rerouting traffic about a mile away to the College Avenue toll bridge, officials decided to give motorists a break by discontinuing the 50-cent toll usually charged to northbound motorists.

In recent years, the bridge has been a source of controversy for nearby residents who complain that the city unfairly charges them for any trip across the span--even to a convenience store a few blocks on the other side.

But, for toll collector Mary Ormand, getting people to take something for nothing on Wednesday wasn’t as easy as it seemed. In a brisk wind, she stood outside the toll booth, using both arms to wave motorists past. Nearby, in front of two metal coin collectors, she had posted signs that read “Free!”

Nonetheless, several motorists stopped to throw their two quarters into the catcher. “No! Go ahead,” Ormand yelled to startled housewives in curlers and deliverymen in pickup trucks. “There’s no toll! It’s free!”

Still, the quarters flew.

“I guess some people just can’t read,” she said with a laugh. “It’s a wonder they can get their licenses.”

Oceanside officials said rising water levels in the normally bone-dry river caused them more than a few moments of concern. Glenn Prentice, director of public services, said officials received a call about noon from the county warning them of unusual water levels upstream to the east.

“They said there was an abnormally rapid rise to the river and that several bridges to the east had been submerged,” Prentice said. The water’s speed was so fierce that the riverbed had been deepened, or scoured, by the current--exposing the rusty metal supports of the bridge.

“We knew that the bridge supports were susceptible to failure at a water velocity of 8 feet per second, and we had monitored velocity of 14 or 15 feet per second,” Prentice said. “So we closed it down.”

James F. Cook Sr., a maintenance supervisor with the city of Oceanside, said officials expected a “mini-tidal wave” to pass through the area. At about 2 p.m., Cook and two other city workers stood watch on the College Avenue toll bridge, waiting for what they said might be a 4- or 5-foot wave.

“We don’t know what it’s going to look like,” he said. “But this bridge can handle the stress. It was built in 1983. The other one is older. So we closed it just to be safe.”