San Luis Obispo-based RRM Design Group is scheduled to finish the engineering plans this year.
By staff reports
April 10, 2007
The Ventura City Council agreed Monday night to spend an additional $130,000 to complete designs for relocating part of a damaged coastal bike path and rebuilding the shore with cobble and sand.
The city would maintain the restored beach, under an informal agreement it also approved Monday.
The city wants to relocate the crumbling bike and pedestrian trail on the seaward side of Shoreline Drive about 65 feet inland near the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
Once the bike path and an adjacent parking lot are relocated inland, 25,000 to 30,000 tons of cobblestone would be spread at water’s edge, adding to the rocky shoreline. Sand then would be laid over the cobble.
Under the informal agreement, the fairgrounds would provide routine maintenance to the bike path, parking lots, a new restroom and storm-drain system. The city would be responsible for future beach nourishment and repairs stemming from erosion or high surf.
The agreement is expected to be finalized in coming weeks as part of a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Ventura County Fair Board that would last 25 years.
Several people spoke Monday in favor of the decade-long project to restore the 1,800-foot section of beach and re-create a natural habitat there.
The project has an estimated cost of $5.5 million, but that could grow higher due to rising material costs. The city has about $2 million for the project and has applied for federal and state grants to fill the gap.
San Luis Obispo-based RRM Design Group is scheduled to finish the engineering plans this year.
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