Ribbon cut to open Bradley Overhead in Merced

The rickety old bridge on the eastern edge of town on Highway 140 is officially a closed chapter in the county’s history book.

On Friday, local political leaders, state Department of Transportation officials and others started a new chapter, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new $41.2 million Bradley Overhead project.

It will double the number of lanes from two to four along a mile-long section of Highway 140, roughly from Parsons Avenue to just east of Santa Fe Avenue. As part of the project, the aging Bradley Overhead Bridge was replaced.

Construction began in October 2010 and wrapped up last month. The project, which is geared toward reducing congestion and decreasing travel times, was paid for with $19.37 million in funding from the Merced County Association of Governments. Caltrans pitched in the remainder.

Built in 1931, the bridge was a familiar sight to Mercedians and the millions of visitors who passed through the city on the way to Yosemite National Park.

The narrow arc-welded steel bridge for many years had been a safety concern, and some said it was a frequent cause of accidents. The bridge also lacked shoulders and its profile was very steep.

“Saying it was unsafe was kind of an understatement,” Merced Mayor Stan Thurston said during Friday’s ceremony, standing outdoors at a podium with the new bridge in the background. “But this is a beautiful improvement.”

In addition to connecting visitors to Yosemite, the bridge is also frequently traveled by trucks carrying agricultural products from farms to market, according to Malcolm Dougherty, director of the California Department of Transportation.

The old structure was the first steel-girder bridge in the state to be constructed with arc welding. Dougherty said the state got “80 good years” out of the bridge, but it was “time to upgrade, improve and replace” it.

Caltrans estimates more than 17,000 vehicles per day cross over the bridge during peak hours.

“It’s been a long road to get it completed, but you can see how nice a project it is, and I think you can see what the benefits are, especially if you were a user of the old bridge and that old road,” Dougherty said.

“Not only (is the project) replacing aging infrastructure that was essentially at the end of its useful life, but it also improved safety, improved capacity, and I think we did it in a way that looks very well and will certainly serve the community very well,” he added.

Former Supervisor Kathleen Crookham, a longtime supporter of the project, was among those present at Friday’s ceremony. Having grown up on the east side of town, Crookham said it was apparent to her long ago that the bridge would need to be replaced, particularly as the city grew in size.

“What a wonderful attribute it is to enter Merced over this gorgeous overpass. It’s beautiful,” Crookham said.

For the project, crews also constructed wide shoulders, a new pedestrian walkway and bicycle path, new bridge rails and a continuous left-turn lane in the median of Highway 140. A portion of Baker Drive and Santa Fe Avenue was realigned, and new signal lights were installed at the intersections of Kelly, Parsons and Santa Fe avenues.

This story was originally published November 7, 2014 at 5:49 PM with the headline "Ribbon cut to open Bradley Overhead in Merced."