A project that has been in the works for years will begin on Monday, June 15th, the construction of the Ofelia Bringas Memorial Bridge that will eventually span across the Whitewater Wash on Cathedral Canyon Drive. Ames Construction, Inc. was awarded the $26.7 million contract to build 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. Construction of a temporary bypass road will begin first so that traffic can continue to flow on this main north-south artery while the bridge is being built.  The project will take approximately 18 months to complete.
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