SR 163 Cabrillo Bridge (Laurel Street Bridge) Lighting and Landscape Improvement

[andy3175]

The Cabrillo Bridge, also known as the Laurel Street Bridge, was built in 1915. One hundred years later, it is now illuminated from below the bridge (since December 31, 2014). This new uplighting was added and turned on as part of the larger bridge improvement project, which also replaced the bridge deck, retrofitted the bridge for seismic safety, and otherwise improved the stability of the historic bridge. Nearby improvements also included a revised landscape along the SR 163 median (replacing turf, adding water-efficient irrigation, and planting additional trees) as well as slope stabilization on both sides of the Balboa Park canyon walls near the Interstate 5/SR 163 interchange.

About the lighting project, see http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/dec/30/cabrillo-bridge-balboa-park-lights-caltrans/

Balboa Park's iconic Cabrillo Bridge will light up New Year's Eve with high-tech LED arrays, illuminating the 100-year-old span's seven arches.

The $500,000 installation caps the $38 million restoration of the 100-year-old bridge, built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition.

Caltrans spokesman Edward Cartagena said along with the lights on the bridge deck, the 50- and 140-watt lights, all 10 inches in diameter, will be activated by a photo sensor at dusk and dawn. They are located at the base of all the arches and will be powered by the city's electrical grid.

The bridge was first conceived by exposition architect Bertram Goodhue as a ceremonial access to his California Quadrangle, which includes the San Diego Museum of Man's California Tower. In another New Year's present to the public, the museum will begin offering daily tours Thursday of the tower, reviving an attraction not available since 1935.

The bridge, designed by engineer Thomas B. Hunter, cost $225,155 and was funded by voter-approved bonds for the expo. It is 40 feet wide, 475 feet long and up to 120 feet high.

Goodhue had originally proposed a three-arch bridge similar to the Alcantara Bridge in Toledo, Spain. But Frank P. Allen Jr., director of works, proposed a seven-arch, aqueduct-type bridge, which he estimated at $150,000, $23,000 less than Goodhue's projection.

A fact sheet provided information about the SR 163 landscaping through Balboa Park, especially near the Cabrillo Bridge:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist11/facts/163HistoricPkwyLandscapeRenewal.pdf

State Route 163 (SR-163) through Balboa Park is one of only two designated historic parkways in California (the other is SR-110 — the Arroyo Seco Parkway in Los Angeles County). It was opened in 1947 as a portion of U.S. Highway 395, the first highway in San Diego County. It is one of our nation's most beautiful parkways and serves as the picturesque gateway to Downtown San Diego.

In an effort to preserve the history, the beauty, the environmental significance and investment of tax dollars over the years on this parkway, Caltrans has a landscape restoration project in the works. It focuses on soil treatment, pruning, the removing of dead and dying trees and grasses and replacing them with sustainable, drought-resistant plants and installing more efficient irrigation. The most noticeable part of this project will be the replacement of irrigation and grass in the parkway median. ...

The project began construction in April 2014. It is scheduled for completion the end of 2014, followed by the three-year plant establishment. The project cost is $6.72 million from the State Transportation Improvement Program — Interregional Transportation Improvement Program.

[andy3175]

The landscape improvement along SR 163 remains controversial given the regional drought:

http://ourcitysd.com/hwy-163-gets-lush,-some-get-mad/#sthash.9lmzVTho.dpbs

State Route 163 is our glamour freeway. It's a concrete ribbon of cool. It's one of only two highways in the state to be designated by the California Department of Transportation as a scenic parkway.

That's why it's getting gussied up. A $6.7 million project is adding trees, shrubs grass and a new, more efficient irrigation system as the highway winds through Balboa Park.

But some argue one addition is going the wrong way. That would be the grass. The San Diego Taxpayers Association claims it offers no value.

"Caltrans is putting the equivalent of a fairway on the freeway where no one will ever play golf, go for a walk or play," said association vice president Sean Karafin, in a statement.

California is also in one of the worst droughts in its history, he points out. Citizens have been told to cut back watering. And here's the state pulling out the garden hose. It could cost as much as $70,000 a year to water the new grass.

"The freeway, at a minimum, disrespects everyone that's trying to cut back water use," Karafin said.

Caltrans says the grass is not the fragile kind. It just needs a few years of tender loving care before it takes root. And then it will require very little maintenance. It's a "low mow" or "no mow" kind of grass, the agency said.

Yet, it's caused some people to question the concept. "Why grass at all," wrote one commentator on a story published on NBC 7's website. "It can be lush and beautiful with drought-tolerant natives. Let's not irrigate and plant grass, please."

"Unbelievable they're putting grass back in," wrote another.

Caltrans wants to keep the signature freeway a signature freeway.

"During a year in which we will celebrate the Balboa Park Centennial, this project helps solidify the state's investment in this historic parkway while at the same time restoring and sustaining the corridor's beauty and functionality for generations to come," said Caltrans spokesman Edward Cartagena.
The water issue is being addressed, he added. The project "also promises to reduce long-term water consumption with a more efficient irrigation system to go along with the planting of a combination of native and drought-tolerant trees, plants and grasses," he said.

The previous irrigation system was 40 years old and hardly cutting-edge. This new one will feature smart controllers that will lessen water usage, he said.
The work being done – which is about 80 percent complete – is on a three-mile stretch from A Street to just north of 6th Avenue. In all, 23 acres will be improved.

Arguably, Caltrans can't seem to win when it comes to this historic stretch of freeway. In 2010, it took heat because the median had begun to look unkept and was cluttered with weeds. In a story in the Voice of San Diego, a reader complained about four-feet tall weeds and a "scrappy looking lawn in the median."

"I doubt I'm the only one who thinks it reflects poorly on our city," the reader wrote.

The growth was the result of Caltrans installing wooden guardrails in 2004 because of a spate of accidents involving motorists and trees in the median. One death resulted with the state settling for $1 million.

Because of the addition of the guardrails, Caltrans crews could no longer get into the median to do maintenance without closing a lane, Cartagena said. A "meadow" look was created to lessen demand for regular maintenance, he said. And that led to weeds growing under the guardrails.

The new landscape plan is being done to both add a bit of lush to the median and promote safety, Cartagena said. Closing a lane to do maintenance can be dangerous for workers. It's something the agency likes to avoid if possible.

Preparation for the project began last summer, when Caltrans stopped irrigation to kill the existing grass. The median soon turned into a brown eyesore. Naturally, Caltrans got complaints.

Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage Organisation, pushed for the timber barriers after Caltrans was considering putting concrete ones up. He said they would have made the corridor look like a "L.A. flood control channel."

He's not against the grass addition, noting that grass was part of the valley before the freeway was built. Indeed, there was actually a lake before the present freeway was constructed, he noted.

The lake is gone. And Coons wishes the freeway would one day go as well. Other cities have shuttered older city freeways and restored them to open space. "In my opinion, we should take the freeway out and go natural."

[andy3175]

More on drought and landscape, with SR 163 being made an example due to its new grass median...

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/apr/27/caltrans-drinking-water-along-highways/

A state law enacted in 1986 required the California Department of Transportation to stop using tap water for landscaping "as soon as practical." The agency was supposed to switch to reclaimed water instead – treated water from sewers, which isn't safe to drink.

Fast forward nearly 30 years: California is facing an epic drought.

San Diego has built two reclamation plants that cost more than $300 million, but the system of "purple pipes" needed to transmit the water to willing and able customers like Caltrans has not been built out.

As a result, more than half of the water processed by the plants each year is pumped back into the sewage system, where it is treated again and then dumped into the ocean.

[nexus73]

Do you know why the pipes have not been built Andy?  It sure seems silly to spend $300 million on wasting water instead of using it but hey, "government".

Rick