Long-awaited bridge becomes a reality

By Elizabeth Marie Himchak

Two upcoming events will officially mark the opening of the Shoal Creek Pedestrian Bridge, which youngsters at the nearby elementary school have been traversing since their first day of classes.

Shoal Creek Elementary Principal Libby Keller said students, their parents and others in the community are being encouraged to walk across the bridge this Friday morning as part of the campus’ Walk to School Day activities. This includes inviting parents of students who do not live within walking distance of the school to park in the neighborhood near the bridge so their children can walk across with their schoolmates.

A ribbon cutting ceremony is set for 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, with several dignitaries planning to attend. They include City Councilman Mark Kersey and Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, who was a councilman when the project began and whose daughters attend Shoal Creek. Also among attendees will be Carmel Mountain Ranch resident Troy Daum, who led the bridge project from inception almost 15 years ago until it was fully-funded. Keller and a group of Shoal Creek students will also attend.

The Ted Williams Parkway Pedestrian Overcrossing at Shoal Creek Drive — dubbed the Shoal Creek Pedestrian Bridge by locals — is a more than $5 million project built across the six-lane Ted Williams Parkway on the east side of its intersection with Shoal Creek Drive in Carmel Mountain Ranch. It is a 479.5-foot bridge with a north ramp of 71.6 feet and south ramp of 157.3 feet. It is 10 feet wide with an 8-foot pedestrian clearance. Its features include a stone facade and stained concrete with anti-graffiti coating.

Its purpose from the start was to provide a safe pathway for children walking to school, but Keller said she is also glad to see adult residents using it while walking their dogs and getting exercise. Since school resumed on Aug. 20, she estimates that hundreds of children and adults have walked across the bridge each day instead of trying to cross the busy, wide intersection.

“There’s quite a bit of buzz about it in the community,” Keller said. “Just a great number of people are walking and we believe that the number of walkers has increased even from before.”

Keller added she has heard many say the bridge is “just lovely aesthetically.”

Daum, his wife, Patricia; daughter, Brittany; son, Troy Jr.; and dog, Grady, were among those who walked across the bridge when it opened last week. When Daum started pushing for a bridge and soliciting funding from various government entities, he said daughters Ashley and Brittany were at the elementary school and Troy Jr. was too young to attend. Now, Ashley has graduated from UCLA, Brittany is a senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Troy will begin his freshman year at Cal Poly in a few weeks.

“It was a very, very satisfying day; one of the greatest days of my life,” Daum said of the family’s walk across the bridge. “For me, the most gratifying thing was to see the hundreds of parents walking across it with their kids.

“It took a lot of time and effort to make it happen, but now kids are walking to school safely. ... It’s going to save some lives. This was a day of a lot of joy,” he added.

While progress continued since the April 2013 ground-breaking, Daum said he was doubtful the bridge would be complete in time for the first day of classes.

Originally, the bridge was to be complete last February, but the date was pushed back to August due to unforeseen geotechnical conditions encountered during construction, officials said.

It was originally supposed to cost $4.5 million — with more than $2 million coming from federal funding and almost $2.5 million from local Transnet funds. When construction complications increased the cost by another $500,000, San Diego City Council allocated additional funding to cover the difference. Back in the early 2000s the city also paid for a $25,000 feasibility study and had traffic engineers implement changes to make the intersection safer for pedestrians while waiting for the bridge to be built.

Daum has previously said there was at least one accident at the intersection, involving a vehicle and a woman pushing a stroller. The child inside was thrown to the curb, but OK and that youngster graduated from high school in 2013. Daum, as chairman, and fellow Shoal Creek Pedestrian Safety Committee members kept working to get the bridge built before a tragedy occurred on the road with a daily traffic volume of more than 25,000. The posted speed is 55 mph, reduced to 25 mph near the school.

“I am pleased the Shoal Creek Pedestrian Bridge is complete and ready for use by the children and residents in our community,” Maienschein said. “The safety of our children is one of my highest priorities. I was proud to be engaged in the early stages of this project and was able to allocate the initial $25,000 necessary to fund the feasibility study. The study showed that the bridge was necessary and today the bridge is a reality.”

“Thanks to the persistence of residents who were committed to community safety, the Shoal Creek Pedestrian Bridge will give kids and families peace of mind when walking across this busy intersection,” Kersey said. “I’m especially appreciative of the community’s patience during the construction process and I know the final project is something of which we can all be proud.”