A bridge to the future

Luis Pena

After five months of repairs, partial closures and a price tag of

$760,000, the city of Newport Beach and the Lido Isle Community Assn.

rededicated the 74-year-old Lido Isle Bridge Thursday.

The quest to begin repairs on the historic bridge began in 2000,

when then-community association board member Gail Rosenstein wrote to

now-Mayor Tod Ridgeway and City Manager Homer Bludau about the

bridge’s poor condition, which included rust. She began working with

city design engineer Lloyd Dalton for the next four years on the

project, and after two years, it ended up on the city’s budget.

“The sidewalks were literally dangerous,” Rosenstein said. “They

were so cracked and broken up.”

A major highlight of the public works project was the

collaborative effort between the city and the community association,

Ridgeway said.

“It was easy to work with [community association members] because

they were very patient,” Dalton said.

One of the bridge’s major changes involved removing the southerly

bridge railing and replacing it with aluminum pipe railing, so the

view along that side of the bridge would no longer be obstructed. The

city didn’t want to spend the $30,000 in expenses for the changes to

the wall, so the community association reimbursed the city for the

modifications.

When the sidewalks along the bridge were removed, 74-year-old

water mains were found underneath, which Rosenstein called one

positive side effect of the project. The replacement of the mains was

then added to the project, saving the city any future expenses.

Other repairs to the bridge included repainting, replacing

navigation lighting, adding 17 flag pole holders and restoring a

bronze plaque, which reads, “Lido Isle 1930,” the year the bridge was

originally built.

Repairs went smoothly, Rosenstein said, and didn’t cause major

inconveniences for residents because one lane of traffic was always

open.

The bridge was at no time unstable for usage because it underwent

two seismic retrofits during the 1980s and 1990s to bring it up to

code, said Marilee Jackson, public information officer for Newport

Beach.

Bob Reno, who has lived on Lido Isle for 42 years, called the

repairs on the bridge “wonderful,” and he was happy the project was

finally completed.