The City Council awarded a contract to Ames Construction, Inc. to build the Ofelia Bringas Memorial Bridge over the Whitewater Wash at Cathedral Canyon Drive. The $26.7 million project will create a new 650 foot-long, 4-lane all-weather bridge with a bike lane and a sidewalk on the west side and a CV Link trail on the east side that will accommodate pedestrians, bicycles and Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs). The project will improve safety and accessibility, traffic flow, and reliability of goods movement, especially during flash flooding. Aesthetic treatments for the bridge railings will be similar to those on the recently widened Date Palm Drive bridge.
In order to protect the bridge during a flash flood, the design also provides for a 10-foot drop structure upstream and concrete channel lining under the bridge structure itself. Best of all, the bridge will be built in accordance to the latest seismic code requirements. Of the $26.7 million costs, the City of Cathedral City is responsible for just $766,232, with the rest being paid for by federal, state, and regional agencies.
Finally, construction should begin in two to four months and it will take nearly 18 months to complete. Please know that a temporary bypass road will be built alongside the bridge project to allow for traffic to remain open in both directions throughout the construction process.
