Photo by Dana Rene Bowler

Caltrans workers are building a temporary river crossing for traffic while widening the aged and run-down San Antonio Bridge in Ojai.

Photo by Dana Rene Bowler

Experts say that after nine decades, the bridge crossing San Antonio Creek is too run-down to safely accommodate vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

The building blocks of a temporary river crossing were installed this week next to the San Antonio Creek Bridge in Ojai, which means traffic won't be diverted into neighborhoods once the bridge replacement project begins later this year.

With the aid of a crane, several head-high and hollow concrete culverts were set in place in the river bottom just south of the Highway 150 bridge. A two-lane roadway will be built atop the culverts. The crossing should be in place within 10 days, said Derrick Alatorre, a California Department of Transportation spokesman.

Work to demolish and widen the existing 90-year-old bridge, however, is not scheduled to begin until September because the work contract must still be awarded, Alatorre said. The construction of the temporary bridge and permanent replacement is expected to cost more than $8 million.

Built before the Great Depression, the bridge's concrete is fatigued, and the narrow crossing has long presented a safety issue for cyclists and pedestrians. An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day.

The replacement will add an 8-foot shoulder in each direction, as well as lengthen the span to combat erosion that has widened the riverbed, Alatorre said. Parts of the bridge have fallen off, and heavy winter storms in January 2005 exposed several support legs. Some fear it could give out during a major flood.

Ojai leaders persuaded Caltrans late last year to do the work without a detour, after telling the state agency it didn't have city permission to use city streets. Caltrans initially had proposed detouring traffic off the highway using Gridley Road, Grand Avenue and Gorham Road, angering many residents along those roads who protested the increased traffic.

Caltrans agreed to redesign the project, leading to the temporary crossing.

"They are not real happy with us," said Ojai Public Works Director Mike Culver, adding the city has heard little from Caltrans regarding the project or its work plan. "But this is the more preferable solution from the city's and residents' perspective."

The original plan using the detour was to take six months. Alatorre said the replacement bridge now is scheduled to take 220 work days, of which 120, or roughly four months, would be needed for work in the riverbed.

Construction could face delays, however, because work would have to stop during any rainfall. There are also limitations by the state Department of Fish and Game on when crews can be in the river bottom.

"It's all dependent on the weather," Alatorre said.