MAYOR’S VIEW: North Torrey Pines Bridge restoration begins

By Richard Earnest

Mayor, Del Mar

The North Torrey Pines Bridge is one of Del Mar’s historic landmarks, and the construction to seismically retrofit and rehabilitate the bridge will begin soon. In celebration of this monumental project, the City invites you to participate in the “Groundbreaking of the North Torrey Pines Bridge Rehabilitation Project.” The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the northwest corner of Torrey Pines Beach Parking Lot, off Carmel Valley Road, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

To preserve the historic character of the bridge, a complex structural analysis was completed this year to seismically retrofit and rehabilitate the bridge, our City’s southern entry point. The seismic retrofit includes replacing the entire upper deck of the bridge over several stages of construction. The replacement deck will be the same width and lane configuration as the existing bridge. The columns of the bridge will be seismically strengthened and repairs to deteriorating concrete will be made. All repairs will be made such that the existing character is maintained (including the historical look of the board formed concrete finish).

Because the railroad passes under the bridge, the construction staging constraints are quite extensive. There are also numerous requirements that will be placed on the contractor to perform the work to minimize impacts to habitat in the area and minimize noise impacts to wildlife and nearby residents. The road will be open to vehicular and bicycle traffic in each direction for the project duration of approximately two years. There will be some nighttime closures, so watch for notices on construction signs. Also, pedestrians will need to avoid the construction area above and below the bridge, for their own and construction workers’ safety. Pedestrians can access the beach west of the bridge by following Carmel Valley and entering through the State’s parking lot just south of the Torrey Pines Bridge construction site.

The construction project is 100 percent funded with a combination of federal and state funding from the Statewide Bond Measure Prop 1B passed in 2006. Prior to contract award, the project completed various environmental reviews, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The project design has been carefully reviewed by both Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration. The City contracted with Simon Wong Engineering for engineering, TY Lin International for construction management and Flatiron West, Inc. for construction.

Councilmembers Crystal Crawford and Mark Filanc are the Council Liaisons for this most important project. Please join me and the entire City Council for the Groundbreaking Ceremony on Nov. 9.