Hollister
– Retired doctor Don Belt has lived west of the San Benito River
for 26 years. For all that time, he said, there’s been talk of
building a year-round bridge on Nash Road.
Hollister – Retired doctor Don Belt has lived west of the San Benito River for 26 years. For all that time, he said, there’s been talk of building a year-round bridge on Nash Road.
With construction starting last summer, it looked like the bridge was finally becoming a reality.
But Belt and other San Benito residents are going to have to wait a little longer.
Jerry Lo, the county’s public works director, said environmental constraints mean the project is spread over two years; the bridge is expected to be finished by Oct. 1, 2007. Due to restrictions from the state’s Department of Fish and Game, the county has called a halt to work in the riverbed due to winter rains. Lo said construction is continuing full steam on the approach to the bridge, and work in the bed will resume when the water dries up next spring.
The bridge’s cost is estimated at around $4.45 million. Lo said $3.9 million will come from federal grants.
“It’s going to cost the county pretty much nothing,” he said.
The old bridge was a 20-foot-wide box culvert with a low-water crossing – essentially a road across the riverbed that was inaccessible during the rainy season. It washed away during heavy rains in early 1995.
The new bridge is expected to have two lanes for traffic and a pedestrian sidewalk.
In January 2003, public works officials told the Free Lance the bridge would be finished that summer, or in 2004 at the latest. When asked about the delay, Lo said litigation unexpectedly dragged on for three years, preventing the project from going forward.
The Nash Road Bridge is moving ahead now, as Belt can attest. He said he can hear explosions and pounding from his Riverside Road property.
Belt said the bridge would speed up his drive to and from Hollister, but there are other viable routes.
“We can live without it, but it would certainly be more convenient if it was finished,” Belt said.
He added that although he is surprised by the delays, they don’t upset him.
“I can sympathize with (the county),” Belt said, drawing parallels between the bridge and his own attempts to build a Japanese Buddhist garden on his property. “I’ve been trying to build this garden since 1995, and I’ve just run into one problem after another.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at (831) 637-5566 ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
