San Benito County is undergoing a half-dozen projects to do one of the three Rs in bridge construction: Repair, realign or replace.
The most impactful of those projects for local drivers is realignment of the Union Road bridge at San Benito Street. County public works official Arman Nazemi, who recently oversaw a realignment to a portion of Cienega Road as well, said the project at Union Road is to make for a smoother curve. He said the bridge will be moved about 30 feet to the upstream side.
“Right now it’s a tighter curve,” he said. “The new alignment or new bridge is going to be placed on the off-stream side of the existing road.”
The $20 million project – with an 88.5 percent match from the Federal Highway Administration and the rest of the money from a local highway fund – is expected to break ground in the spring of 2015 and last for two construction seasons, Nazemi said.
Another similar project along the river bed includes replacement of the Hospital Road bridge. The $14 million project – with a 100 percent match because the state is covering the local portion – is also expected to start in 2015 and last two seasons.
Other smaller bridge projects receiving all or most of their necessary funding from the federal government include those on Rocks Road, Limekiln Road, Anzar Road and Panoche Road, Nazemi said.
