Mendocino residents are fighting Caltrans to keep a coastal bridge scenic and pedestrian-friendly

Folks in Mendocino County are trying to keep Caltrans from turning a scenic bridge into a "a high-speed urban overpass." The proposal includes eliminating a sidewalk and using railings that obstruct the view of the Ten-Mile Estuary.

They’re looking for people to write to the Coastal Commission before Tuesday, November 8.

Click "read more" to see their letter.  Visit their site for more detailed information, including an intensive history of their victory with the Noyo Bridge.

Your help is urgently needed! Please take action and forward this to friends: http://www.bridgerailings.org/Ten_Mile/support_changes_10mile.htm

You must act before Tuesday Noon, November 8!

Caltrans is trying to transform scenic bridges on coastal Highway 1 into high-speed urban overpasses. In September, Caltrans tried to get the Coastal Commission to approve a scenically and ecologically destructive bridge in Elk village along the coast in Mendocino County. Local action and hundreds of your letters defeated this attempt.

Undaunted, Caltrans is trying again—this time at Ten Mile River, one of the most beautiful locations on the fabulously beautiful coast of Mendocino County.

The need to repel Caltrans is greater than ever, but so is the challenge. Caltrans has negotiated the support of the Coastal Commission staff for its Ten Mile plan.

Caltrans used totally unsupported "safety" arguments to justify to the staff 8’ shoulders on a low-traffic bridge on a rural two-lane road that has no shoulders along much of its length. The absurdity of the position seems self-evident, but unless we the public speak loudly, the Commission is likely to go along with the staff.

If approved, a terrible precedent will be set for subsequent replacement bridges on California’s scenic coastal Highway 1.

The proposed Ten Mile Bridge has two 8’ shoulders, no sidewalk, and an industrial looking railing.

Eight-foot shoulders will give the bridge the appearance of a high-speed expressway, rather than a scenic bridge on a rural road.

The lack of a sidewalk will endanger local people and those using the Coastal Trail.

The proposed railing ignores the Coastal Commission’s 2001 request to Caltrans to develop a new railing that had curved and arched elements, connecting to the historic bridges of Highway 1.

Coastal values and scenic vistas would be preserved by narrowing the shoulders, adding a sidewalk, using the Noyo Bridge railing on the inside of the sidewalk, and designing a new pedestrian rail incorporating arches in its design. Please support these changes with a letter to the Coastal Commission: http://www.bridgerailings.org/Ten_Mile/support_changes_10mile.htm

Detailed documentation supporting the need for the proposed changes is at: http://www.bridgerailings.org/Greenwood/greenwood_testimony.htm

The history of the campaign to preserve scenic bridge views is at: http://www.bridgerailings.org/

Please act now. You must take action by Noon, Tuesday, November 8, or it will be too late. Let’s show Caltrans the power of the people! http://www.bridgerailings.org/Ten_Mile/support_changes_10mile.htm

Thank you for your support.

With appreciation.

Vince

Vince Taylor