Prolonged Closure Set for Main Avenue Bridge

Main Avenue traffic will be detoured via Northgate Boulevard, Interstate 80 and Norwood Avenue. / Source: INQUIP

BY BRANDY TUZON BOYD
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

Starting tomorrow the Main Avenue bridge will be closed to through traffic for nearly two months.

The closure is part of levee improvement projects under way throughout the Natomas Basin and being coordinated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Main Avenue bridge will be closed Tuesday, July 21 through Sept. 4.

The closure from Northgate Boulevard east to Pell Drive will allow engineers to install a seepage cutoff wall and improve the levee slope. (Cutoff walls are a type of barrier meant to reduce the flow of water through or around a dam.)

The bridge connects Natomas to its neighbors in Robla. The closure comes as a blow to the Coffee Break Cafe which has already been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had closed, we reopened, indoor dining was allowed then removed, some customers were back to work, and now many have been sent back home,” said a representative for the family-owned cafe located on Del Paso Road at the intersection of Northgate Boulevard.

“We are fortunate to be open, but this bridge construction is yet another roadblock to financial recovery,” the representative added. “Like our neighbors, we will do everything we can do to stay open and remain resilient.”

The closure will be 24 hours a day, seven days a week during construction. Geotechnical contractor INQUIP Associates Inc. intends to work 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, according to a notice sent to area residents and businesses.

“While work is being performed, heavy equipment noise and haul truck traffic is to be expected,” the notice read.

Both residential and commercial traffic will be detoured around the construction by way of Northgate Boulevard, Interstate 80 and Norwood Avenue.

“For our business and many of the businesses in our area, having the Main Avenue overpass closed for over a week will undoubtedly cause disturbances and frustrate our customers who aren’t aware of the closure,” said Brett Bartlett, a Natomas resident and owner of The Plastics Guy located on Main Avenue east of the bridge.

“But in the big scope of things, the critical work the Army Corps of Engineers is doing to strengthen the levees and protect the lives and property of Natomas residents trump’s our minor inconvenience. We can manage.”