Four Bridges

Four Bridges Widening

June 1, 2010. Caltrans has released preliminary plans for widening shoulders and replacement of bridge rails for 4 coastal bridges in Mendocino Count near the towns of Fort Bragg and Mendocino. The four bridges are Little River Bridge, Jack Peters Creek Bridge, Russian Gulch Bridge, and Pudding Creek Bridge.

Caltrans provided cross sections and aerial views of the planned projects for each bridge.

Pedestrian walkways are proposed for all except the Pudding Creek Bridge (which is excepted by Caltrans because of the pedestrian/bike trestle over Pudding Creek). The railings proposed are those used on Ten-Mile Bridge.

Proposed Schedule: Begin construction in 2016 with estimated construction completion by 2018.

Although the projects appear sensitive to the public's desire for pedestrian crossing and scenic railings, two concerns are:

	Maintaining the aesthetics of the Russian Gulch Bridge, which is an early Highway One arch bridge;
	The lack of a pedestrian walkway on Pudding Creek Bridge, which is the normal pedestrian route from Fort Bragg to the Pudding Creek beach.

Also, there is still a need for Caltrans to develop an integrated design for its "ST-20 Combo Railing" which is used as a vehicle and bicycle railing when there is no pedestrian walkway. The current design, which was shown on the materials presented at the workshop, has a gap between the auto barrier and the bicycle railing. This gap presents an unnecessary hazard to cyclists.

You can express your opinions and concerns to the project manager:

Steven  Blair
Project Manager
Caltrans - District 1
Steven_Blair@dot.ca.gov
(707) 441-5899