Bridge over troubled mesa

A long-awaited pedestrian bridge that will connect the Bolsa Chica Mesa to a parking lot on Warner Avenue is expected to be delivered by the state Monday.

Flossie Horgan, the executive director of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, and Grace Adams, the executive director of the Bolsa Chica Conservancy, said the bridge should arrive in town late Monday and be installed by a crane Tuesday morning. The state has overseen the creation of the bridge, for which the Land Trust, the Conservancy and other groups contributed money.

Horgan said the bridge’s official dedication would probably not occur until February, but she expected a large crowd in attendance to watch the installation.

“It’s been a long time coming, but it really is a tribute to the community responding,” she said.

The bridge will provide an easy walkway to pedestrians at Bolsa Chica, who currently have to walk alongside traffic on Warner to make it from the parking lot to the mesa. After the installation, Adams said, the Conservancy plans to resurface the parking lot and add a decomposed granite trail and native vegetation leading to the foot of the bridge.

Adams noted that while Bolsa Chica’s three main environmental groups — hers, the Land Trust and the Amigos de Bolsa Chica — have not always seen eye to eye, they were able to work together on the bridge project.

“I think there’s joint recognition by the three groups that public safety is of prime importance,” she said. “The safe passage of visitors coming to the reserve is critical.”