Background on the Greenwood Bridge Project
[For the historical record]

September, 2005. Caltrans has requested the Coastal Commission to approve its plans to replace a Highway 1 bridge near the small village of Elk in Mendocino County.

The permit application will be heard by the Coastal Commission on Thursday, September 15, 2005 in Eureka: Coastal Commission Agenda items Th13c and 14a.

The proposed new Greenwood Bridge has two 8' shoulders, no sidewalk, and a new Caltrans railing that modifies the Noyo railing by adding three more horizontal rails to raise the height from 33" to 54".

The 8' shoulders will give the bridge the appearance of a high-speed expressway, rather than a scenic bridge on a rural road. The lack of a sidewalk will endanger local people and those using the California Coastal Trail. The proposed railing, while less visually opaque than the originally proposed concrete railing, lacks grace and character and ignores the 2001 Commission request to Caltrans to design a railing incorporating curved and arched elements.

Coastal values and scenic vistas would better be preserved by narrowing the shoulders, adding a sidewalk, using the Noyo railing on the inside of the sidewalk, and designing a new pedestrian rail incorporating arches in its design.

Caltrans also plans to build the new bridge inland from the existing bridge. The new route will require extensive cuts into hillsides bordering the road. To buttress the cut hillsides, Caltrans proposes to construct 650 feet of concrete retaining walls up to 26' in height. Building the new bridge over the old bridge in stages (Alternative 2) would eliminate the need for the concrete retaining walls. The community and commission staff support Alternative 2.