Restrictions Abound on Bridge Face-Lift

At age 64, the buckled Main Street Bridge has seen better days.

Straddling the Ventura River just half a mile before it empties into the Pacific Ocean, the old concrete overpass is seismically unsound and partially collapsed as a result of last year’s floods.

And although city officials had hoped to complete a $1.4-million face-lift months ago, construction now is not expected to begin until late summer.

“We originally hoped we could have all the permits in place for last August,” project engineer Neil Cole said. But construction was delayed when city engineers were unable to obtain necessary paperwork.

This week, the Ventura Planning Commission signed off on the first set of permits needed to begin repairs on the two-lane bridge, now reduced to one lane as a result of storm damage.

But the city still needs permits from the Department of Fish and Game, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

In addition, the Ventura City Council still needs to select a contractor for the $1.4-million project, which is expected to be financed with federal highway assistance money.

To further complicate matters, the city only has 90 days between August and November in which construction can occur.

Because of environmental concerns, bridge repair must be sandwiched between the mating season of the endangered least Bell’s vireo, a bird that nests in the Ventura River, and the spawning of threatened steelhead trout.

“It makes it fairly tight,” Cole said. “When you only have that window and you miss, you have to wait a whole year.”

The restrictive timeline will require construction crews to work long hours--sometimes around the clock--to complete the project on time.

The bridge will remain open to cars and bikes for most of the restoration, but there will be some days--and at least one week--when it will have to be closed entirely.

That closure will create a major obstacle for thousands of bicyclists, because the bridge is their only crossing over the Ventura River.

“I am sure some people will have their hackles raised,” said Jon Avery, an avid cyclist and owner of Open Air Bicycles in Ventura.

But if the city provides enough notice, Avery added, the closure should be manageable.

“If it is well-posted,” he said, “it is something we all can and will live with.”

The construction window could create problems for the Ventura Beach RV Resort, because that work also coincides with the height of tourist season.

Located a quarter mile from the closed bridge section, the resort already has 50 residential vehicles booked between Aug. 15 and 25, the week of the Ventura County Fair.

Manager Barbara Riedel said she hopes city engineers will take the busy summer calendar into consideration when they map out a more precise construction schedule.

“October would be much better for us to fix the bridge,” she said.

Cole said city officials are keenly aware of the potential conflict with tourist season, and said they will try to work around events such as the fair.

The partial closure will affect residents who live across the bridge on nearby Taylor Ranch as well. But a little inconvenience is worthwhile, some residents say, if it means the crippled structure will be repaired.

Resident Ginger Dixon drives across the bridge every day, and worries that the sagging structure may collapse under the weight of heavy vehicles.

“I worry about the school bus,” she said. Riedel shares the same concern.

“It does worry me,” she said, “especially if I am behind a big rig. You just wait to see him go across and see if he makes it.”

City engineers acknowledge that the buckled bridge section--which is sagging by 6 feet--could sink further or collapse under the pressure of rushing flood waters. That is why that segment of the bridge has been fenced off with chain-link and razor wire.

But the rest of the bridge, Cole said, is structurally sound. And sections have been reinforced with steel piles for added strength.

“There is some concern,” Cole said. “but with the winter we have had so far, we have been lucky.”