The construction of the new bridge on the Iron Horse Trail that spans eight lanes of Bollinger Canyon Road traffic is slowly taking shape.
Although construction of the new bridge, called the Overcrossings Project, won’t be completed until summer 2025, the bridge’s foundation went up when Bollinger Canyon Road was closed for a week in September.
There was another full closure of Bollinger Canyon scheduled from Oct. 1-7 but it was postponed. A full closure may be required next month, according to the City of San Ramon website.
“I imagine this will be a beneficial project, but it will be harder for students to get to school,” library media coordinator Jessica Rugani said last month before the closure.
The $21.8 million project, was expected to take 18-24 months to complete once it started on May 18, 2023. It is on schedule to open next summer, said Theresa Peterson, a senior civil engineer for the City of San Ramon.
The city’s website indicates that the purpose of the Overcrossings Project is to improve safety by eliminating unsafe crossing maneuvers, encouraging pedestrian and bike usage along the Iron Horse Trail, and increase trail use by nearby schools by improving safety.
“[The new bridge] is a fantastic feature in the city,” Peterson said. “It gives so many benefits to residents and people who use the trail – bicycles and walkers – because there will be a…separation between them and the vehicles.”
Peterson said that in 2007 the city did a feasibility study for the Bollinger Overcrossing, a Crow Canyon Overcrossing, and an overcrossing in Dublin, which recently was completed. Since then, there’s been many other phases, including environmental approvals, funding, and public outreach, to help the city reach this point.
“Anything that makes a city more walkable or movable without cars or vehicles is good and makes the city safer,” history teacher Jackson Collins said. “I think that the bridge itself looks good and I’m excited to see the end result.”
Collins said that when he attended Cal as a student, he had to stop at the Bollinger Canyon Road and Iron Horse Trail intersection when biking to school. He said he would have loved the option of having an overcrossing at that time.
But until the overcrossing is completed, the project is creating problems for students and other residents. Traffic jams on Bollinger Canyon road are adding at least an additional five to 10 minutes as students need to take detours to get to campus.
Due to the delays around the area last month, some students worried about arriving at school on time. Driving near the construction site also created major safety hazards due to the large cranes and over-roadway work that is still being completed.
But some students still believe the project will be beneficial in the long run.
“The bridge and construction are annoying because it takes me longer to get to school, but it’s probably a good idea if it was implemented for safety purposes,” sophomore Riya Dabholkar said.
Until the bridge is finished, pedestrians and bikers must take a sidewalk detour route on the south side of Bollinger Canyon Road.
“I thought that the progress was going really slow at first, but now it looks like they are picking up pace with the main structure of the bridge done,” freshman Debasmita Patra said.
Junior Rohan Kalavar added that although the bridge is a good change, it might be overkill for one road.
