there putting rialto on the map haha

Demolition set for old Riverside Avenue crossing
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/27/2011 07:02:37 AM PDT

RIALTO - The Riverside Avenue Bridge over the 10 Freeway was planned to serve during another era. Built some 50 years ago - and woefully narrow for today's needs - this five-lane bridge is coming down in early May.

On April 27, the bridge will close in preparation for demolition the next week.

Work then will begin on the construction of a nine-lane, $32 million replacement.

"This is going to be the centerpiece of Interstate 10. It is going to be like no other bridge in Southern California," said Ed Palmer, a Rialto City Council member.

The bridge will be fashioned after the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy, which is depicted in Rialto's city seal. Under the bridge, travelers along the 10 Freeway will see decorative walls incorporating the city seal. The seal will also decorate the ends of the bridge's support columns, said Robb Steel, director of the Rialto Redevelopment Agency.

When entering or exiting a ramp facing Valley Boulevard, travelers will see wall etchings featuring oranges and grapes, in a nod to Rialto's early history as a center for packing houses, he said.

"This is going to be hallmark piece that puts Rialto on the map," Palmer said.

City Council member Ed Scott said that the city has been been working on replacing the bridge since at least 1996.

To make the project happen now, the city's Redevelopment Agency is fronting most of the project's $32 million cost.

Fairly quickly, the RDA will be reimbursed for $16.5 million from federal and state sources. But it will be longer term payback from Colton, San Bernardino County and Rialto. Payments of $5.8 million from Measure I could span a decade, Steel said.

Measure I was a half-cent sales tax approved by San Bernardino County voters in 2009.

The RDA's permanent investment in the project will be about $3.4 million, he said.

By being able to fund the project initially, the RDA pushed the bridge replacement project timetable up about a decade, Steel said.

The first phase of this project is to replace the existing one-lane on- and off-ramps with two-lane ramps. The existing ramps will remain open during the project, except for brief closures, usually between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

For the seven-month period that the bridge is closed, traffic will detour by taking either Valley Boulevard or Slover Avenue to Cedar Avenue, or by taking Rancho Avenue and Agua Mansa Road to continue south on Riverside Avenue. Drivers may also use the 10 Freeway 10 on and off ramps, provided they can access them without crossing over the freeway.

Shortly after the bridge closes, there will likely be "chaos and congestion" until people adapt to the change, Steel said.

For businesses near the bridge, there is tremendous uncertainty.

Ed Boulis, owner of I-10 Truck Stop, 195 E. Valley Blvd., said he has "no idea what to expect. But we are very worried. Business is already slow. I don't want it to get even slower."

Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_17712850#ixzz1HwLjP4AU

lol..ive been on the Rialto bridge in Venice before...lol @ them making a replica in Rialto ca...how long before cats are catching heavens on it and its all hit up.



lol...

first week tops haha

They made the Venice bridge in honor of Rialto CITY..............CA