The city of Santa Barbara will be hosting a second community meeting to discuss the Haley and De la Vina Bridge Replacement project.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the David Gebhard Public Meeting Room at 630 Garden St. in Santa Barbara.

Construction on the Haley and De la Vina Bridge Replacement project will begin this November and run through spring 2011. Deemed structurally deficient by Caltrans, the bridge needs to be rebuilt to meet safety requirements for earthquake and vehicular loads. The bridge is inspected every two years to monitor stability; however, the overall lifespan of the bridge, built in 1915, was not expected to exceed 100 years.

“It is clear that now is the time to replace this key bridge at the intersection of Haley and De la Vina streets. We have had good public use out of this bridge, but we are nearing the end of its useful life,” said Pat Kelly, assistant public works director and city engineer for the city of Santa Barbara. “We have been working on the plans for this bridge replacement since 2001 and are pleased to move forward with construction in November.”

Cameron Benson, the city’s creeks restoration and clean water manager, added: “There are many environmental improvements that are a part of this bridge replacement project. The new bridge span will be 15 feet longer to reduce the risk of flooding, and this project is an integral part of the overall lower Mission Creek restoration effort.”

The project will replace the deteriorating bridge, improve pedestrian areas near the bridge and enhance portions of Mission Creek for water flow and native habitat. The majority of construction will occur weekdays, and some nighttime construction may occur.

During construction, the intersection at Haley and De la Vina streets will be closed because the bridge runs diagonally across the intersection. Detours on Ortega, Cota, Bath and Chapala streets will be in place to route traffic around the construction.

Nearly 90 percent of funding for the $12 million bridge replacement was obtained through a grant from the federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Reconstruction program. The remainder of funding is from city funds, including Measure D, Santa Barbara County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation projects.

For more information, including project fact sheets, click here or call the project helpline at 805.705.7610.

— Kirsten Ayars represents the city of Santa Barbara’s Public Works Department.