Pacific Street bridge finally under way in Oceanside

By: PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 25, 2006 9:38 PM PDT ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- For years engineers, local politicians and business leaders have called for a new crossing to carry Pacific Street over the mouth of the San Luis Rey River. That goal took a step toward reality Wednesday with a groundbreaking ceremony for the Pacific Street Bridge.

Wielding gold-colored shovels, Oceanside City Council members scooped ceremonial sand from a parking lot at the harbor. Before shoveling commenced, Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood called former project manager Peter Biniaz out of the crowd to make sure he was in the groundbreaking lineup.

"We wouldn't be involved with this at all if it wasn't for his hard work and dedication," Wood said.

Biniaz helped design the 600-foot bridge and secure federal funding for the project. Biniaz, who recently quit his job at the city and now works for the Public Works Department as a consultant, said Wednesday that it was gratifying to finally see the project move from design to construction.

"It's fantastic, it's wonderful, it's just great to see a project like this go from inception to completion," Biniaz said.

When complete, the concrete bridge will replace the existing Pacific Street river crossing built at the river mouth. Over the years that crossing, a set of culverts under the roadway, has been prone to wash out during heavy winter storms that turn the normally docile San Luis Ray into a raging torrent.

Maryan Babaki, project manager for the city, said Wednesday that it will take a little more than two years to build the structure.

She said the bridge will sit atop concrete pilings about 20 feet above the river and about 500 feet east of the existing river crossing. The bridge must be tall enough to clear the concrete levy that protects the harbor during heavy storms.

"Pacific Street and Harbor Drive must be elevated to match the level of the bridge," Babaki said.

While builders should be able to elevate Pacific without closing the existing roadway, that is not the case for Harbor Drive. In order to make Harbor drive meet the bridge at the same elevation, Babaki said builders must construct a retaining wall and completely rebuilt the roadway. Doing so will mean the temporary loss of about 100 parking spaces in three popular harbor parking lots. Utility lines that currently run under Harbor Drive will be relocated under the southern half of the three parking lots, and then those lots will be repaved and striped as a temporary two-lane roadway for the project's two-year construction period.

To help harbor businesses cope with the loss of so much nearby parking, the city will run a free shuttle on weekends during the winter, and from Thursday through Sunday during the summer. The shuttle will ferry visitors from more remote parking lots on either end of the harbor to the businesses in its center.

Mel Rawlins, who runs the Harbor Gift Shop with his wife, Daliah, said Wednesday that he is sure the arrangement will cost him business.

"Right now we are limited with the parking we have," he said. "It will definitely hurt to have even less."

But he said he appreciated the city's shuttle efforts and the prospects of a new bridge, complete with a bike lane and sidewalk that should help bring more potential customers north from the city's popular pier area.

"Eventually, when it's finished, it will be better for the city and even in the long run it will improve the harbor," he said. "Unfortunately, the rent and utilities continue."

-- Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.

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