Plan OKd for Long Beach-to- Seal Beach Bridge Overhaul

The California Coastal Commission approved plans Tuesday to replace a deteriorating 1930s-era bridge over the San Gabriel River that links Seal Beach and Long Beach.

The new Marina Drive span will be built with half the number of existing traffic lanes to make room for a bike path and a landscaped median, and a less obstructive handrail.

Part of the bridge will remain open during most of the construction, officials said.

The commission unanimously approved the $5.7-million project in a 15-minute public hearing in Redondo Beach. Both cities received state and federal funds to replace the bridge, which Caltrans determined in 1993 to be in “poor” condition.

Officials in both cities were excited to start the project, but said drawn-out dealings with the commission pushed the project back at least a year.

“It’s about time. We’ve been faced with delay after delay after delay for a seemingly no-brainer of a project,” said Seal Beach Councilman Shawn Boyd. “It’s a bridge that needs replacement. It’s unsafe for both vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic.”

Teresa Henry, the commission’s South Coast district manager, said the extra time was necessary to study alternatives that might have less of an environmental impact.

The San Gabriel River--a polluted waterway that receives runoff from 635 square miles--of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties--provides habitat for many fish and bird species, including terns, cormorants, brown pelicans, anchovies, sardines and mackerel.

The four-lane concrete bridge has cracked pavement, potholes bigger than phone books, narrow sidewalks and a rusty handrail with prison-like vertical metal bars. The span will be replaced with a two-lane bridge, designated bike lanes, a landscaped median and a low-profile handrail that won’t obstruct views.

The number of bridge supports will also be decreased, improving the view from afar as well as the wildlife habitat below, said Karl Schwing, a planner with the commission’s Long Beach office.

Seal Beach and Long Beach are paying for most of the project with funds from the Federal Highway Administration’s highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program and a state seismic retrofit program. In the end, each city will pay about $342,000 for the project, said Doug Dancs, director of public works in Seal Beach.

Construction is expected to begin March 15, and continue for two to three years. During the summer, workers will rebuild the bridge. In the rainy season, they will not be allowed to disturb the river channel, so they will do other, less obtrusive projects, Dancs said.

Occasionally, the bridge will be closed to motorists and pedestrians, and as with any construction project, there will be delays, noise and other inconveniences for nearby residents, Dancs said. “At the end of the day, they’ll have a much nicer facility than they have now,” he said.

A traffic analysis showed that the decrease in lanes will have an insignificant effect on traffic, Dancs added.

The commission added several permit conditions when it approved the project. The agency will require water-quality monitoring and filters and other devices to treat runoff from the road.

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New Span

Marina bridge