A $13.3 million flood protection plan to replace four bridges that bottleneck Ross Valley creeks was endorsed by county supervisors Tuesday.
The county board approved the overall plan and passed oversight to the Ross and San Anselmo town councils after reviewing a staff report noting that planning, engineering and environmental review could take years.
The program, funded in large part by federal grants as well as $1 million generated by the region’s controversial flood control fee, involves replacing aging bridges at Winship Avenue in Ross, and three more in San Anselmo on Nokomis Avenue, Madrone Avenue and Sycamore Avenue at Center Boulevard.
The bridge program was recommended by the Ross Valley Flood Control Zone 9 board. San Anselmo Councilman Tom McInerney, chairman of the flood board, said the bridge replacement program has “no opposition from anybody” but noted that public concerns may focus on other aspects of the flood control program.
The bridge program also drew support from representatives of the Friends of Corte Madera Creek and town of Ross as well as the Kentfield Planning Advisory Board.
Board president Katie Rice, who is championing the Ross Valley flood control program launched by her late boss, Supervisor Hal Brown, said she was glad to see “the ball rolling” on flood control in the valley.
“I’m so happy to see stuff coming before us now,” Rice said, adding the old bridges are “critical constriction points” in the watershed.
Rice has noted that removing and replacing the bridges, as well as “fixing other constriction points, creek capacity improvements and a detention basin system to hold back flow during major storm events” are key components of a multi-faceted plan to end chronic flooding in the region.
The cost of the Sycamore project is estimated at $5.8 million, while the other two are estimated at about $2.4 million each. In Ross, cost estimates put the Winship project at about $2.4 million as well. Construction is expected between 2018 and 2020.
Overall bridge project plans include replacement of the Azalea Avenue bridge in Fairfax, and the town is seeking a grant to finance the $1.1 million improvement.
“This is obviously a great flood management project,” Supervisor Kate Sears said as the board voted unanimous approval of the plan.
The bridge program is part of the county’s $160 million plan to replumb the Ross Valley, leveraging substantial grant funding that finances the bulk of the work, with local contributions generated by the average annual $129 flood fee. The hotly contested levy was enacted after a ballot box controversy split the community in 2007. An unusual election conducted by consultants required voters to sign ballots, prompting legal contention that spurred a battle reaching the state Supreme Court.
The fee assessed on 15,000 Ross Valley parcels will generate more than $1.2 million this year.
The bulk of the Ross Valley flood program involves a $20 million retrofit and enlargement of Phoenix Lake for both drinking water storage and floodwater retention; a $17.5 million project to use San Anselmo’s Memorial Park as a flood water retention basin; and a $6.4 million plan to do the same at Lefty Gomez Field in Fairfax. A $1.9 million flood detention basin is planned at Loma Alta preserve not far from White Hill School, home of Lefty Gomez Field.
Neighbors have raised objections to the retention basin program.
