Kings County starts repairs on flood-damaged Cross Creek Bridge

KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday afternoon marked the beginning of repairs to the Cross Creek Bridge in Kings County.

The bridge and a stretch of the road on Houston Avenue near Sixth Avenue have been closed since 2023 after rushing floodwaters made the bridge unsafe.

"When traffic was going over the top of it, you can see the bridge warping. It was like, okay, we gotta get this thing shut down immediately. Obviously, with no understanding, without the understanding at that time of how significant of a loss it was," says Kings County Board of Supervisor for District 5, Robert Thayer, who was the undersheriff at the time.

He and the team have been working behind the scenes for years to reopen the road.

The multi-million-dollar project will be mostly federally funded.

"We have used contingency dollars and local tax dollars to get this going. Then we will seek reimbursement back from sources we have lined up for this," explains Thayer.

Kings County Assistant Executive Officer Matthew Boyett continues, "It's important to get that federal reimbursement so we at the county aren't out of that money we had to front to get this bridge completed."

For locals and commuters like Boyett, the reconstruction has been long overdue.

Thousands used to drive through the area weekly.

"Oftentimes I will use this thoroughfare when I wanna get out of the traffic off of 99 and 198. It is a lot more peaceful, relaxing," recalls Boyett.

The reconstruction of the Cross Creek bridge comes just ahead of an expected El Niño pattern for the Central Valley.

With more rain expected in the coming months, "Our hope is that if that is to occur, we can get this bridge completed by the time they start having rainfall, and may water down this Cross Creek," expresses Tahyer.

Kings County says repairs will begin soon and the project should be done within 120 days, but they hope the timeline will be shorter.

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