The Bridge

The Bridge

Those who attend a lot of meetings may have scratched their heads when a “Bridge Replacement Project” popped up on Bishop City Council’s agenda recently. “What bridge?” But for the increasing number of tourists flying into the area and heading to town, the narrow bridge on East Line Street, spanning the canal, could well be the gateway to Bishop and Inyo County. Given that elevated status, Bishop’s Public Works Director Nora Gamino presented the Council with conceptual drawings to spruce up the little bridge.

This conceptual phase is just one element of the process that also included public input, California Environmental Quality Act review and a Notice of Determination with CalTrans. A total of four driveways, on both sides of Line Street and both sides of the canal, further complicated bridge options.

The City proposed a 30-foot long, 60-foot wide replacement with two 12-foot vehicle lanes, bike lanes, a median strip and sidewalks protected from vehicular traffic. To put these numbers in perspective, the existing bridge is 18.5-feet long and 40-feet wide. One-fourth of the bridge sits on Los Angeles Department of Water and Power land with three-fourths within the Bishop city limits. A consideration of the Council included parameters of a median strip to slow traffic coming into town and safety of pedestrians balanced by the total cost of the project.

Following the presentation, Council members arrived at a consensus:

• A modest, planted median with one designated crosswalk, allowing pedestrians to cross Line Street one lane at a time.
• A sleeker, up-graded railing that was cost-effective but still assured pedestrian safety, and
• Figure out the gateway signage later.

Deb Murphy