THE BALLAD OF THE BRIDGES
A fire, a pandemic, a flood: combined, these three disasters started, and stalled, a nearly seven-year-long campaign to build three new bridges on OVLC’s preserves. As of July, that effort finally finished with the construction of the Broida Bridge at the Ojai Meadows Preserve (OMP)! These bridges didn’t just take time to be built, they also cost a combined total of around $800,000. But the time, cost, and energy that went into the three bridges were worth it because bridges offer connection in a multitude of ways.
The 2017 Thomas Fire closed the popular Wills Canyon/Rice Canyon loop on the Ventura River Preserve (VRP) when it burned the bridge over the Casitas Municipal Water District (CMWD) canal. Getting that bridge replaced proved to be no easy task as the canal is not part of the VRP, but rather federal property managed by CMWD and subject to federal emergency recovery funding, all of which means: labyrinthian bureaucracy. The bridge had burned before in a 1985 fire, so a carbon-copy wood bridge couldn’t be rebuilt; it would need to be a steel bridge with all new engineering. OVLC does not have engineers on staff and is not expert at navigating multi-leveled bureaucratic processes. But we could connect with the water district as an important partner to address these issues. CMWD has the connections with federal agencies and contractors, they have engineers on staff, and even though they no longer used the bridge over the canal for their own purposes, they understand the vital link the bridge provided for the recreating public. CMWD shepherded the bridge project through to completion, and in August 2020 Timbers’ Bridge was rebuilt, reopening one of the most popular trail loops on OVLC’s preserves.
Timbers’ Bridge was the first, but not the only bridge, to come out of the Thomas Fire. When the preserve burned, sensitive resources were exposed along Chaparral Crest Trail, forcing its closure. In its place, we built the Allan Jacobs Trail in a new location, but the catch was the new location could only work with a bridge crossing Olive Creek. This time around, OVLC didn’t work with partner agencies, but had the full support of the community in getting the bridge built. The Ojai Valley Lions Club and the Rotary Club were important funders who helped buy bridge materials, and we intended to have our vast volunteer community build the bridge. We have that volunteer community because we offer countless ways for individuals to connect with us on different projects, including bridge building. Several schools helped lug pieces of the bridge out to the site and members of the community helped start building in late November 2019. After a short break for that holiday season, it was back to bridge building! Until disaster struck again.
The pandemic came and the volunteer program went. OVLC couldn’t have groups of people gathered together in close quarters working on the bridge site. But the need for the bridge became even more critical during the pandemic. Outdoor recreation skyrocketed as the only safe form of recreation outside the home, so it was clear we would have to move forward on the bridge building, even if it would take place at a slower pace. With just staff and a very few select volunteers – mostly Rob Young! – we inched forward and connected both banks of Olive Creek nearly a year after starting the bridge in October 2020.
The pandemic didn’t just slow the bridge building over Allan Jacobs Trail; it slowed the bridge planning over Happy Valley drain at the Ojai Meadows Preserve too. Grant funding, engineering, and permitting all slowed to a standstill in the early days of the pandemic. But the spike in use on the VRP was equal to that on the OMP during the pandemic, making the bridge mission critical. The original plans for the preserve called for connecting the two halves of OMP with a bridge. Without a bridge over the flood control canal, there wasn’t true equitable access for all users; anyone pushing a stroller or with mobility challenges could not descend into and out of the drain, even with steps cut into the soil bank. Plus, no one, regardless of how hale and hardy, was crossing the flood control canal after winter rains. This meant students heading to Nordhoff High School from Meiner’s Oaks had to use the comparatively unsafe side streets to walk or bike to school, and students from the elementary school could not utilize the wetland area as an outdoor classroom – during the best time to view the wetland, no less!
No rain storm better illustrated the challenges faced by our preserve users than the storm that brought serious flooding in January 2023. This latest disaster only reaffirmed the urgent need for the bridge. The flooding slowed the bridge planning process to a crawl because the county had to prioritize permitting of roads and other critical infrastructure damaged in the storm. However, one happy byproduct of waiting longer to work through the permitting process was it meant more time for community outreach to fundraise for the bridge. Just like Timber’s Bridge in Rice Canyon, we had government partners assist on the OMP bridge, with both California Natural Resource Agency awarding a large grant and with local groups like the Ojai Civic Association, Greg Rents, Channel Islands Bike Club, and the Ojai Valley Lions Club contributing to the project. OVLC still needed support from the general community, and a bridge can be a symbol of peoples’ desire to connect with their community for a cause they believe in. That desire brought out dozens of donors to help us reach our fundraising goal, including Lawrence and Leticia Broida. Their generous donation was driven by a desire to leave a lasting family legacy within the community they hold dear.
Connections are why these three bridges—and a fourth next to the pond at OMP sometime in the near future—are worth the effort and resources that go into building them. Each bridge provides not only a physical connection over creeks and canals, but they provide meaningful connections between partners, the community, and the lands they care so much about.
Brendan Taylor, Director of Field Programs