As planning advances to replace the Camino Del Mar Bridge over the San Dieguito River, the City Council on Nov. 17 approved a $50,000 consultant contract amendment to quantify a buildup of beach sand surrounding the bridge and on the river bottom.
The amendment to the engineering design services agreement with Kleinfelder, Inc., expands the firm’s scope of work to include beach and river surveys to create new plan sheets and revise existing ones.
While the added tasks are not expected to delay the timeline, an independent review of the complexities of the project has expanded the estimate of the construction phase from 36 to 50 months.
The revised timeline reflects what now is a fully-designed project and a better understanding of requirements to operate temporary natural gas lines during construction.
Construction is expected to run from January 2027 through April 2031. Work will be sequenced to maintain traffic flow in both directions.
The project is estimated at $80 million. A federal grant of $71 million and state and local grants totaling $5.3 million are expected to cover the majority of costs. An additional $2.7 million grant is pending.
Located north of Sandy Lane and south of Via de la Valle, the existing bridge was built in 1932, widened in 1953 and modified in 2001.
The new bridge will accommodate one traffic lane, bike lane and a sidewalk in both directions. With fewer pilings than the existing structure, the replacement bridge will improve the hydrology of the river and the ecology of environmentally fragile wetlands upstream.