The city and county will have to maintain the San Benito River
Bridge on San Juan-Hollister Road now that both governments have
accepted co-ownership of it from the state.
The city and county will have to maintain the San Benito River Bridge on San Juan-Hollister Road now that both governments have accepted co-ownership of it from the state.
Both the county board and Hollister City Council have approved of relinquishment from the state for separate portions of the bridge. The city will maintain the eastern side, while the county will handle the western side. Council members approved of the city’s ownership last week, while supervisors did the same for the county in September.
It has been in the works since 2001, when the state transportation commission approved relinquishment of the old Highway 156, which had taken an “abnormal amount of truck traffic through town,” said David Rubcic, Hollister’s associate civil engineer. There were an array of repairs the state needed to accomplish before handing over the bridge, and those are done now, Rubcic said.
They were done about a year and a half ago, he said.
“Now we can go ahead and accept that,” he said.
Officials do not expect the bridge to need a lot of maintenance because of the recent repairs, Rubcic said.
From here, the city’s resolution will head to the state transportation commission for an official implementation.
