Improvements completed along Cienega Road bridge
The drive through Cienega Valley is getting a little easier,
thanks to the San Benito County Road Department’s latest
undertaking. Cienega’s heyday may have been more than a century
ago, when the area was filled with small farms and vineyards. Two
schools operated along the road, both long-since closed. Vineyard
School is now a meeting room for Hollister Hills State Park and the
original Cienega School is now a private residence.
Improvements completed along Cienega Road bridge
The drive through Cienega Valley is getting a little easier, thanks to the San Benito County Road Department’s latest undertaking. Cienega’s heyday may have been more than a century ago, when the area was filled with small farms and vineyards. Two schools operated along the road, both long-since closed. Vineyard School is now a meeting room for Hollister Hills State Park and the original Cienega School is now a private residence.
The new edition of Cienega School is nearby, a two-room testament to public education.
Just south of the original Cienega School, a serpentine twist in the road once brought travelers over Pescadero Creek twice in the space of a few yards. One of the bridges was rendered impassable a decade ago during a wet winter. But the other bridge, a one-lane icon of an earlier, slower time, remained in use until recently.
The county installed a new bridge, meeting current standards, this fall. “Road Closed” signs remain up, pending seeding of excavated areas, according to the Road Department. The bridge, however, is done. Enjoy the drive.
