Temporary bridge takes shape on Balboa Island
Building a bridge on Balboa Island can be a challenging endeavor.
Just ask workers wearing hard hats and neon vests who sometimes have had to halt traffic on Marine Avenue so large flatbed trucks could back into an approximately 80-by-25-foot area of Balboa Avenue to unload construction materials.
Construction crews from John S. Meek Co. have been navigating the confined space in a project to build a temporary steel bridge over the Grand Canal that will connect Little Balboa Island and the big island via Balboa Avenue before an existing bridge on nearby Park Avenue is demolished in order to be replaced.
The Newport Beach City Council in February approved a $6.3-million contract with Gardena-based John S. Meek to build the temporary Balboa Avenue bridge and the replacement for the 86-year-old Park Avenue bridge.
The project is intended to improve traffic and pedestrian access on the new bridge with wider sidewalks and street lanes, enhanced safety and improved under-bridge navigation, with fewer pilings.
Work began in late March. The temporary Balboa Avenue bridge is expected to open June 6, simultaneously with the closure of the Park Avenue bridge.
Demolition of the Park Avenue span is tentatively scheduled for mid- to late June. The replacement is expected to be completed in early 2017.
In accord with a U.S. Coast Guard permit, yellow booms float on the Grand Canal to keep out boats and swimmers between Balboa and Park avenues. Barricades block foot traffic on the canal walkway between the two streets, and parking is suspended on Balboa and Park in the construction zone. The sidewalks and wheelchair ramps along Park between Marine and Abalone avenues are closed for relocation of utilities.
Despite those safety measures and many warning signs, some people enter the area after construction hours, according to Vanessa Barrientos, a public outreach representative for the project.
“Many of the residents let us know what they see after hours, like people going over the seawall and into secure areas,” Barrientos said. “No one should be coming through there. Part of the permit is keeping everyone safe, and that’s our main concern.”
Still, she acknowledged that all the closures and detours around the construction zone are confusing. “People need a little more time to get used to the Grand Canal and Park Avenue closures,” she said.
According to Fong Tse, assistant city engineer and project manager for the Newport Beach Public Works Department, the project’s public outreach campaign includes a website, parkavebridge.com, offering construction information and safety reminders; a toll-free hotline, (888) 600-7590; community meetings and weekly email updates.
City officials began talking publicly about replacing the aging Park Avenue bridge several years ago after the state designated the structure as “functionally obsolete,” meaning it was entering the last stages of its usable life. The new bridge will be aesthetically similar, officials say.
Staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.