Statewide honors for Napa's Maxwell Bridge

By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer

Napa’s replacement Maxwell Bridge was the toast of Sacramento Wednesday, winning statewide “Project of the Year” honors from the California Transportation Foundation.

The bridge was cited not for its soaring design, but for the way it was funded. Four agencies ponied up $40 million, making the bridge a “case study in state/local collaboration,” according to the foundation.

Without exceptional government cooperation, motorists would still be driving over the old two-lane Maxwell Bridge, a long-stand Imola Avenue bottleneck, said Mike O’Bryon, the city’s public works director.

The flood control district had originally planned to replace only the eastern approach, leaving the Maxwell Bridge, built in 1949, intact.

O’Bryon cobbled together a partnership for a new bridge that would meet the objectives of the flood district, boaters and today’s heavy street traffic in south Napa.

The funding package included $21 million from Caltrans, $9 million from the federal government, $7 million from the Napa flood district and $2.5 million from the city of Napa.

During the awards ceremony, the project contractor, C.C. Myers Inc. of Rancho Cordova, dedicated the honor to the memory of Chris Stevens, a Myers construction worker who was killed when a temporary bridge support collapsed in December 2003.

The owner, C.C. Myers, received a special award for the rapid reconstruction this spring of a section of MacArthur Maze in Oakland that was destroyed by a gasoline tanker fire.

Hundreds of projects statewide were in competition for “Project of the Year.” What set Maxwell Bridge apart was the shared funding between local, state and federal governments, Mayor Jill Techel said.

“They did what you hope government will do,” Techel said. “I think they’d like to use this as a model of intergovernmental cooperation.”

Construction took more than two years. The bridge was built in two stages so traffic flow would not be interrupted.

The bridge’s high arc preserved the ability of tall boats to sail up the Napa River. The span’s great width eliminated flood water backup. For the first time, bicyclists had dedicated lanes.

Few motorists will ever tout the creative financing used to build the new Maxwell Bridge, Techel said. For most people, it’s all about the expansive view and the removal of a bottleneck, she said.

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