APPLE VALLEY – Civic leaders and members of the community turned out in earnest on Friday for the Town of Apple Valley’s groundbreaking ceremony where the pavement ends at Yucca Loma Road – the future spot of the Yucca Loma Bridge.
The ceremony kicked off the first phase of a larger corridor project, including both the Yucca Loma Bridge and the Yates Road Improvement Project. Estimated to be completed by 2016, this first phase will connect Yucca Loma Road on the east side of the river to Yates Road on the west side of the river.
Shovels and equipment await the groundbreaking ceremony – courtesy of facebook.com/YuccaLomaBridge
“The purpose of this project is to ease traffic congestion on Bear Valley Road and SR-18 (Happy Trails Highway) as a new east-west route in the High Desert,” officials stated on the Town of Apple Valley’s website, applevalley.org. “It will also provide a more direct local connection to the Mojave Narrows Regional Park and ultimately provide a main thoroughfare for the new Interstate 15 – Nisqualli Road interchange.”
The Yucca Loma Road/ Yates Road transportation project also includes connecting Green Tree Boulevard, creating a “multi-jurisdictional cooperative effort” that covers segments of Apple Valley, San Bernardino County, and the City of Victorville, according to town officials.
“For Apple Valley residents, the Yucca Loma Bridge is an investment in the future of our community, and will ease travel and goods movement in and through our neighborhoods,” according to a statement from the Yucca Loma Bridge’s advocacy site, yuccalomabridge.com. “It will mitigate future congestion along Apple Valley Road by redistributing traffic between three evenly spaced east/ west corridors instead of the existing two, that are several miles apart.”
Advocates for the bridge state that the Yucca Loma Bridge/ La Mesa/ Nisqually Interchange corridor is the only development solution for easing congestion along Bear Valley Road for commuters attempting “to reach work, access shopping and dining destinations, and deliver goods and services.”
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According to a fact sheet distributed at the Jan. 10 event, plans for the Yucca Loma Bridge put its length at 1,606 feet – twice the length of the Bear Valley Bridge over the Mojave River – and its width at 98 feet.
The bridge has officially been part of regional transportation plans since 1968, according to the fact sheet. The Town Council adopted the bridge as their number one transportation priority in February 2006, and work continued since then.
In November 2013, the Town Council awarded a $37.2 million contract for the project to Security Paving Inc.
Phase two will include road improvements to Yucca Loma and Apple Valley roads, such as drainage, sound walls, bike lanes, and right-of-way acquisition. Phase three will address road construction from Yates Road to the intersection of Hesperia Road and Green Tree Boulevard.
For more information, visit Apple Valley’s Facebook page for the Yucca Loma Bridge at facebook.com/YuccaLomaBridge.
