County funds repairs for ‘railroad bridge’
Residents still waiting on Rock Springs Road motorist bridgeRYAN ORR
Daily Press
Vehicles travel on Rock Springs Road next to the railroad bridge over the Mojave River. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved $100,000 to repair the railroad bridge. Reneh Agha / Staff Photographer
VICTORVILLE — With no word on a Rock Springs Road “bridge” to bypass the Mojave River during flood season, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved $100,000 to repair the railroad bridge just north of the road.
For years Rock Springs Road — connecting unincorporated Apple Valley to Hesperia — was washed out during heavy rains, cutting off at least 11,000 motorists who use the road daily.
In 2005, the county constructed a new reinforced concrete culvert underneath Rock Springs Road, which diverted some of the river’s flow toward the railroad bridge, causing damage, said David Zook, spokesman for San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.
The affected portion of the railroad structure now must be reconstructed by using deeply driven steel piles to replace the original timber piles, according to the Board of Supervisors’ agenda.
The county will contribute $100,000 from the County Road Funds budget to the railway project. In return, BNSF will design and construct the project and release the county from liability for any further damages to the affected portion of the railroad bridge.
“A request for funding to construct the (motorist) bridge for Rock Springs Road has been a part of our federal legislative platform for several years,” Zook said.
As recently as January, Rock Springs Road was closed for more than a day due to flooding. However, since the construction of the new culvert the road hasn’t been “washed out” and reopens as soon as water recedes, Zook said.
The San Bernardino County Public Works Department estimates that the road has been closed five times since 2005 as a result of flooding.
The 2005 project was built with $1.1 million in federal funds awarded in response to the flooding, and the county was prohibited from using it for any reason other than simply repairing the road, Zook said.
In a previous interview Mitzelfelt said he has been wanting to build a bridge over the river on Rock Springs Road since he was appointed, but the cost is too high.
Original estimates to build a permanent bridge when it was washed out in 2004 came in at $15 million.
Zook said the county has requested a $2 million earmark from its congressional delegation to get the project started and estimates the entire project will cost $20 million.
“However, the appropriations have not been made yet and we don’t expect Congress to complete that process until after the presidential election,” Zook said.
