County looking to replace Route 66 bridges

The county is pursuing a $52 million federal stimulus grant to replace 130 bridges on a stretch of National Trails Highway — part of historic Route 66 — between Daggett and Needles.

The bridges the county hopes to replace were built between 1929 to 1931 and are made of wood. County officials hope to replace them with bridges made from timber kits and would be designed similar to the original bridges. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved the application to the California Transportation Commission for the grant.

County officials will know by September if its grant application was approved.

There is $600 million available to local governments through the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriation Act of 2010. According to Andy Silva, spokesman for First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, if the county doesn’t receive the full $52 million, it will use the money it does receive to fix bridges between Amboy and Cadiz, which need to be replaced the most.

The kits the county expects to use for to replace these bridges are approved by the California Department of Transportation, are easy to put together and are historically accurate.

“The attraction of Route 66 is its history,” he said. “You don’t want it to look like any other roadway.”

The stretch of Route 66 between Daggett and Needles is often used by the California Highway Patrol when Interstate 40 is closed.

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