VENTURA : Main Street Bridge May Open for Light Traffic by Feb. 24

Ventura’s Main Street Bridge, which has been closed since Jan. 25 because floodwaters may have caused one or more of its supporting piers to shift, is scheduled to reopen to light traffic by Feb. 24, city officials said Friday.

This should come as welcome news to the dozen or so people who live at Taylor Ranch and for ranch workers who have had to make lengthy detours around the closed bridge when heading into town.

John Betonte, Ventura’s maintenance services manager, said he believes the 62-year-old bridge is ready for light use now, but the California Department of Transportation must first determine an allowable weight limit.

The nearly half-mile-long bridge, composed of about 21 60-foot concrete slabs, was closed when a gap of up to 2 inches between two slabs was discovered after last month’s first wave of storms, Betonte said.

The extent of needed repairs and their cost are, at this point, complete speculation, Betonte said. “We can’t even tell what’s wrong because the flow (of water) is too fast to put divers in the water,” he said.

Betonte said repairs could cost $100,000 to $200,000. “But that’s about as wild a guess as anybody could have,” he said.

Until the volume of water flowing toward the ocean decreases, bridge traffic will be subject to the weight limit.

Councilman Jim Monahan has suggested diverting the flow of water around the bridge to expedite repairs.

But Betonte said such an effort would require numerous permits.

“If the City Council wants to do that, that’s fine,” Betonte said. “But it’s going to be very costly.”