MONTECITO Santa Barbara County Public Works began work Monday on the replacement Ashley Road Bridge, between East Mountain Drive and Sycamore Canyon Road, officials said.
The bridge was severely damaged in the January 2018 debris flow. It was demolished and temporarily replaced in June 2018. The replacement was used only for emergencies.
“The closure of the bridge has caused circulation problems for the residents in the Ashley Road area of Montecito,” officials said in the news release.
The county has expedited the project “as part of the continuous process of restoring transportation connectivity to Montecito,” the news release reads.
Project Manager Charlie Elbert said in the news release that management “took the recently completed Casa Dorinda bridge and used it in our specifications for what the new bridge will look like. We’re trying to provide Montecito residents and visitors with a bridge that has the same look and feel as before the debris flow.”
The project is expected to cost $1.7 million — $1.3 million from FEMA Federal Aid for Disaster funding, $340,000 from the California Office of Emergency Services State Aid for Disaster funding, and $113,000 from the Santa Barbara County General Fund.
Construction is expected to be finished at the end of the year.
To see scheduled road projects and road closures, visit the county Public Works website at PWSB.net, or call (805) 739-8750.
