An Albion citizens’ group is challenging Caltrans on its latest proposed step in a long-running project to either replace or renovate the Albion River Bridge.
Caltrans is asking for a Coastal Commission waiver from environmental review of work to repair a sand berm that the agency mistakenly excavated without proper permits as part of an archaeological study last Oct. 31. The matter will be heard at the commission’s meeting in Cambria Wednesday, Feb. 7.
Last Friday, the Albion Bridge Stewards, a group formed as an intermediary between Albion and coast residents and Caltrans regarding the bridge project, issued a press release calling the agency’s work plan and request for a waiver “ambiguous, incomplete, and internally inconsistent,” saying that its proposal to fill in the hole made last October and plant ice plant on top “does not repair – much less restore – the damage that Caltrans has done.”
Frank Demling, Caltrans project manager for both the Albion and Salmon River bridge projects, said the plan is adequate.
“Our revegetation specialists do believe the ice plant will re-establish … our hydraulic engineers do not believe there is any threat to the dune from destabilization, let alone blowing out,” he said.
Demling questioned the professional qualifications of Albion Bridge Stewards to call the proposal inadequate, and asked how representative the group is of the broader community, terming their press release “propaganda.”
Annemarie Weibel, Albion Bridge Stewards spokesperson, said the organization was formed in 2015 to spread information about the project to the larger community. She said the group has a mailing list of about 100 people, that it consults with engineers and that one of its current advisors has a long history of work with the Sierra Club.
“We are here to disseminate information,” she said. “But it has become apparent after Caltrans keeps trying to do projects that don’t meet proper environmental standards.”
She said that the group gave Caltrans a 40-point “laundry list” on how they would like the berm restoration to be done, but that Caltrans did not meet their request. On Monday, she suggested that the agency analyze any ice plant to be used in replanting for toxins, since Caltrans has said the bridge timbers themselves may be leaching chemicals involved in treating wood, and that a full Environmental Impact Report be done covering all work associated with the bridge projects.
Demling said Caltrans is not legally required to even ask for the Coastal Commission waiver, and that the dune project does not qualify for California Environmental Quality Act review, “but we went ahead with the waiver due to the heightened interest in the community.”
The Albion Bridge Stewards have consistently urged Caltrans to restore, and not replace, the Albion River Bridge, which was listed on the Register of Historic Places last year. The bridge was built in 1944 with timbers salvaged from an older bridge that was torn down in the Feather River Canyon, and salvaged steel from elsewhere, when building materials were being diverted from public works projects to the war effort. It is the only remaining wooden bridge on Highway 1 in California.
Caltrans officials have argued that keeping the bridge in safe condition is more expensive in the long run than replacing it, and that a newer concrete structure would be more earthquake-resistant than the existing bridge, which it terms “structurally deficient.” Caltrans has held numerous meetings in Albion and Mendocino since 2014 explaining options for the projects and taking public input.
The waiver request is on the Coastal Commission’s Wednesday agenda as part of the North Coast District Deputy Director’s Report. To be considered at the hearing, public comments were to have been submitted by Friday, Feb. 2.
