Bridge safety issue yet another hang up for Fresno’s San Joaquin River Parkway | Opinion

Unless you’re someone who seeks out offbeat places to walk or bike, or used to drive gravel trucks back in the day, chances are you’re unfamiliar with Ledger Island and its namesake bridge.

Such a pity. With a historic oak grove and mortar holes used by indigenous people who lived along the San Joaquin River, Ledger Island is a place worth visiting and learning about.

Ledger Island, which lies in Madera County, and Ball Ranch, its Fresno County neighbor across the river, belong to the San Joaquin River Conservancy. The state agency responsible for assembling the 22-mile river parkway from Friant to Highway 99 also owns the bridge linking them.

For much of their 20-plus years as state properties, Ball Ranch and Ledger Island have been off-limits to the public. The local conservancy, we were told, lacked the funds to operate and maintain them.

As the pandemic exposed a glaring need for more trails and recreation spots around Fresno, that changed. Without any fanfare, the conservancy’s then-executive director opened the gate to Ball Ranch along Friant Road, allowing people to enter that 360-acre property and connect to 161-acre Ledger Island via the bridge.

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There was no announcement nor ribbon-cutting ceremony to please the politicians and dignitaries. Regardless, it was a huge step forward — perfectly timed with the $15 million gift from Sacramento via Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula.

At last, tangible progress on the glacial river parkway effort.

Too fast and too soon for the river conservancy’s board, as things turned out. In April, the board terminated executive officer John Shelton and, two months later, gated Ball Ranch and the Ledger Island Bridge due to safety concerns.

Six months later, both remain closed indefinitely. Ledger Island is somewhat accessible from the Madera side through the Tesoro Viejo development, but there’s no way across the river.

Bridge closed indefinitely

Nor will there be, at least for the foreseeable future. As justification for closing Ledger Island Bridge, the conservancy relied on a 2015 evaluation that determined its center pier was structurally unsound due to decades of scouring.

Heavy flows on the San Joaquin from last winter’s robust snowpack may have exacerbated the situation.

“We have that blocked off for a reason, and it will remain blocked off until something can be done about it,” Karen Buhr, the conservancy’s interim executive officer, said during a recent board meeting. “We want to encourage people not to access that bridge.”

Here’s where the public has a right to be frustrated. The 2015 report doesn’t say the bridge should be condemned. It says it should not be used by the public until steps are taken to address the scouring and a seismic analysis is performed.

That was eight years ago. And since the evaluation was issued, not one thing has been done.

Liability fears are understandable, but only to a point. It’s telling that the report’s findings and concerns were pretty much ignored, then trotted out and applied when convenient.

Furthermore, the conservancy didn’t hire a civil engineer to check out the bridge. To see what, if anything, has changed since 2015. The conservancy simply closed it, along with Ball Ranch — with zero notice.

What fuels public frustration and confusion with the river parkway? There’s a glaring example.

Eight years ago the conservancy became aware the Ledger Island Bridge had serious issues. Now it’s probably going to take eight more years — and perhaps as much as $10 million — until there’s a replacement.

Pause on parkway progress

From my longtime perspective of covering the San Joaquin River Parkway effort, 2023 feels like a year-long pause button hit. While much has taken place behind the scenes, there has been little visible progress.

Among the conservancy board’s top priorities is replacing Buhr, who will return to her permanent job as deputy executive officer of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. The job posting for the San Joaquin River Conservancy executive officer position closed Thursday.

Mike Karbassi, the Fresno City Council member and conservancy board president, told me the first series of interviews had been conducted, but that the interview panel was not ready to make a recommendation.

“We would like to ensure we have the right candidate who will live locally and is committed to the mission of the board,” Karbassi said via text.

The 16-member board, enlarged and reshaped by another Arambula bill, now includes two recently appointed public members in Fresno County citizen representative Daniel O’Connell and Madera County rep Jose Eduardo Chavez. Two seats dedicated to tribal and youth representatives remain open.

Kindly do something about that, Gov. Gavin Newsom. It’s been nearly two years.

I don’t wish to paint with broad strokes here. Positive steps are being made, and there are exciting possibilities for the future. During a recent board meeting, urban designer Sheila Hakimpour presented some renderings of a reimagined Camp Pashayan that would be a game-changer for northwest Fresno.

Exactly the bold step forward the river parkway effort needs, provided there’s a way to pay for it. (The cost estimates are TBA.)

Unfortunately, any excitement quickly gets tempered by certain gloomy realities: Fresno and Clovis residents won’t have access to one of the parkway’s biggest jewels, Ledger Island, anytime soon.