County to cover Lenwood bridge engineering cost

BARSTOW • The county will cover Barstow’s remaining share of the cost — about $888,000 — for the design and environmental review of the proposed bridge over Lenwood Road near West Main Street.

The County will also join forces with the city and the San Bernardino County Associated Governments in a three-way agreement that would address the project’s funding and what each party’s responsibility is. The County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved both items at its Tuesday meeting. According to County spokesman David Wert there was no discussion.

The total cost of the engineering and environmental review phase of the Lenwood bridge, usually referred to as the Lenwood grade separation, is $4,159,000, according to First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt’s office.

Measure I funds — a half-cent sales tax the county charges for transportation — of about $938,108 covered part of that expense. The city and county was to split the difference of about $3.2 million. So far, the city has paid $723,900.   

The county joining forces with the city and SANBAG to help fund the project’s engineering work is natural, said Mayor Pro-Tem Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre, the City Council’s SANBAG representative. Money for the Lenwood Road bridge is coming out of city and county funds, she said. The bridge is also being funded by federal dollars.

“I think it’s great,” she said, adding that the bridge is being built because of the proposed Wal-Mart Distribution Center and the Barstow Industrial Park. “It’s going to be here sooner than they think.”

The Lenwood bridge project began in 2007 to accommodate increased traffic once the nearby Barstow Industrial Park is built. The project must begin construction by 2013, according to Mitzelfelt’s office.

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(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com