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Receive a presentation and conduct a public hearing on the necessity for acquiring right-of-way from APN 0107-020-040 for the Stevenson Bridge Rehabilitation Project; and Consider adopting a Resolution of Necessity to acquire by eminent domain a portion of APN 0107-020-040 for construction and right-of-way purposes for the Stevenson Bridge Rehabilitation Project (4/5 vote required)
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Published Notice Required? Yes __-___ No __X __
Public Hearing Required? Yes __X__ No _____
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Resource Management (Department) recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Receive a presentation and conduct a public hearing on the necessity for acquiring right-of-way from APN 0107-020-040 for the Stevenson Bridge Rehabilitation Project; and
2. Adopt a Resolution of Necessity (Attachment A) to acquire by eminent domain a portion of APN 0107-020-040 for construction and right-of-way purposes for the Stevenson Bridge Rehabilitation Project (4/5 vote required).
SUMMARY:
Solano County, Yolo County, Caltrans, and the Federal Highway Administration have been working for over a decade to plan for the rehabilitation of Stevenson Bridge (Bridge), a 298-foot concrete tied-arch bridge that is structurally and seismically deficient. The Bridge is located on Stevenson Bridge Road and offers a critical connection between Solano and Yolo Counties as it spans over Putah Creek (Attachment B). The Stevenson Bridge Rehabilitation Project (Project) will repair and improve the Bridge with new foundation elements, structural seismic retrofitting, new approach guardrails, scour protection, and realignment of the southern roadway approach. As the lead delivery agency, Solano County has received $9.8 million in federal funding awards for construction which is scheduled to go out to bid in late 2025.
The Project, as proposed, requires acquisitions from a total of three properties, and includes the Amy property northwest of the Bridge, the UC Davis property northeast of the Bridge, and the Borchard property south of the Bridge. The County has utilized an independent right-of-way agent, as required under a federal aid project, to negotiate with the property owners regarding appraisals, offers, and terms. Tentative signed agreements for right-of-way acquisition have been reached on the Amy and UC Davis properties; however, the right-of-way agent has been unable to reach agreement on the Borchard property for necessary right-of-way acquisition on the south side of the Bridge.
Rehabilitation of the bridge requires the acquisition of approximately 0.67-acre interest in fee to realign the sharp “S” curves south of Stevenson Bridge as well as the acquisition of an approximately 0.78-acre remnant (Attachment C). A notice of decision to appraise was sent to the Trust owners of the Borchard property (APN 0107-020-040), a 279.76-acre farm and walnut orchard south of the Bridge. Upon completion and approval of the corresponding appraisal, the County provided a corresponding offer of no less than the appraised value as required under Government Code section 7267.2, through its right-of-way agent, on June 6, 2024 and as updated December 6, 2024. Contact with the owners was first made August 11, 2023 to begin the appraisal, noticing and acquisition process. Negotiations have been ongoing since June 6, 2024, but now stand at an impasse. In order to complete this critical rehabilitation project within the federal funding timeline, the County must obtain the necessary right-of-way on APN 0107-020-040 by eminent domain.
It is recommended that the Board hold the public hearing regarding the proposed condemnation actions and acquisition by eminent domain. The affected property owners of APN 0107-020-040 have been notified of the content, time and place of the public hearing as required by law (Attachments D). The scope of the public hearing, in accordance with section 1245.235 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, should be limited to the following findings:
(a) The public interest and necessity require the project.
(b) The project is planned or located in the manner that will be most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury.
(c) The property sought to be acquired is necessary for the project.
(d) That the offer required by section 7267.2 of the Government Code has been made to the owner or owners of record.
The amount of compensation for the property is not an issue to be considered at the hearing and is an issue within the exclusive jurisdiction of a Court or jury to decide should the owner dispute the valuation, absent a negotiated resolution. After closing the public hearing, it is recommended that the Board adopt the attached Resolution of Necessity (requiring a minimum 4/5 vote) to acquire the needed property by eminent domain, which makes the findings listed above.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The right-of-way acquisition will be funded by the Road Fund within the FY2024/25 Working Budget. The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the Department’s FY2024/2025 Working Budget. There is no impact to the General Fund.
DISCUSSION:
Stevenson Bridge, built in 1923, is a rare example of a reinforced concrete tied-arch bridge in California. Rehabilitation will extend the useful life of the Bridge more than 75 years, where it will become the oldest bridge of this type in California and possibly the United States. Often referred to as the “Graffiti Bridge” or “Rainbow Bridge”, it is also the only bridge of its type that will remain in California from its era. Given the growing seismic, scour, and structural risks with aging, Stevenson Bridge will likely become non-operational after a significant earthquake or flood event if the rehabilitation project is not undertaken.
Alternatives
Solano and Yolo Counties partnered in 2005 to begin consideration of alternatives to save Stevenson Bridge, which has led to an extensive engineering effort to study and design solutions. In 2008, a structural feasibility study was completed which identified the structural weakness issues and proposed design alternatives for rehabilitation. From 2009 to 2017, the federal environmental review process was performed which studied the biological, hydrological, archaeological, and historical resources related to the Project, as well as alternatives for scopes of work and roadway alignments. From this effort, Stevenson Bridge was designated as a significant historic resource in California. The public interest and necessity require the Project.
Caltrans asked the County several times, and on each occasion the County took corresponding action, to review and assess the alternative option of a new bridge, both single-lane or two-lane, for cost and feasibility. Engineering review and estimates of both of the new bridge options showed escalated costs, significant feasibility issues, and significant limitations on federal aid funding for the following reasons:
1) Demolishing the historically significant Stevenson Bridge would minimally require a set of findings that show the bridge:
a. Could not be repurposed pedestrian or bicycle functions; (it can)
b. Could not be reused as a landmark, non-vehicle structure, nor a publicly accessible feature; (it can)
c. Has no other reasonable alternatives. (it does)
2) A new bridge replacement of a historically significant bridge requires the existing historic bridge to remain publicly accessible, requiring rehabilitation;
3) A new bridge costs significantly more than rehabilitation ($20 million+) given the need for expanded right-of-way, significant potentially unavoidable environmental impacts, new bridge structure, enhanced architecture, and new roadway approaches along new alignments; and,
4) Highway Bridge Program funding does not pay for rehabilitation of replaced structures, outside of demolition costs, where a new structure is constructed.
The history of Highway Bridge Program funds, along with the delays experienced in obtaining the limited funds for Stevenson Bridge after 19 years of effort, show that a new bridge structure alterative would have to be paid by the local agencies at a cost of over $20 million and would take another 15+ years to deliver. A new bridge option would also require significant expansion of right-of-way acquisition from properties currently in negotiation. With federal requirements stating that a new bridge would still require the restoration and use of the existing bridge, coupled with the lack of federal funding available for bridge replacement, the most feasible option is to rehabilitate the existing bridge for continued use.
Rehabilitation of the existing bridge would result in the ability to:
1) Maintain federal aid eligibility and keep the Project within reasonable budgetary constraints;
2) Limit the amount of right-of-way necessary for the Project;
3) Limit environmental impacts to the area and adjacent private lands;
4) Retain and extend the useful life of a significant historic resource; and,
5) Deliver the Project in a manner that is most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury.
History of Project effort
In 2018, the Project was placed on hold until the Federal Highway Administration and Caltrans could establish guardrail standards that would meet both the new federal traffic impact standard and the State Office of Historic Preservation requirements for retrofitting historic bridges. In 2022, a new joint-use guardrail standard was approved and the Department initiated design contract services for the Project. In 2023, Congressman Mike Garamendi sponsored a $3.4 million earmark for construction funding of Stevenson Bridge within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law appropriation. This funding action was significant as it provided Stevenson Bridge a high priority designation that led to Caltrans allocating the remaining $6.4 million in construction funding required, using the Highway Bridge Program. Seeing that construction funding was imminent, the Department began right-of-way acquisition planning and engineering design work in 2023. The Project design is now nearly complete with plans to repair and improve various elements of the Bridge as follows:
1) New concrete pilings at the piers and abutments to meet structural and scour protection requirements;
2) Carbon fiber wrapping and structural member retrofitting to meet seismic safety requirements;
3) New bridge approach rails and southern roadway realignment to meet traffic safety requirements.
The Project is required to meet federal and State traffic safety standards which require realignment of the southern roadway approach. Caltrans had originally requested re-alignment from the existing 15 mile-per-hour non-standard curves to minimum 35 mile-per-hour standard curves. During the environmental review process, the Trust owners indicated that they would not like the right-of-way outcome from the larger curves due to the impacts to their property and instead preferred a 25 mile-per-hour alignment. Department staff performed a traffic study and petitioned Caltrans to accept 25 mile-per-hour curves as a minimally required curvature alignment.
To construct the 25-mile-per-hour curve realignment, the Project is seeking to acquire approximately 0.67 acres in fee and the 0.78 acre remnant for a total acquisition of approximately 1.45 acres from APN 0107-020-040. Only 0.67 acres are necessary for the public road right-of-way to accommodate the Project’s need for the new curve realignment; however, solely acquiring the 0.67 acre interest will leave the property owners with an uneconomic remnant. To mitigate this potential, the County should acquire the full 1.45 acres as provided by Code of Civil Procedure section 1240.410, et seq.
The Borchard property is owned by a family Trust. Not all of the Trustees agree on the issues of sale, appraisal value, and terms. Negotiations among the Trustees and the County’s designated right-of-way agent continued for most of calendar year 2024 until an impasse was reached. Issues raised by some of the Trustees included proposals for different roadway alignments and a request for a new bridge. The County has already evaluated alternatives for a new bridge and potential roadway alignments during the Feasibility Study and during several phases of the environmental review process. The necessity for rehabilitation of the existing bridge and the proposed roadway alignment have been previously discussed with the Trustees. The Trustees (owners of record) were provided offers required by section 7267.2 of the Government Code.
Federal funds allocated for Stevenson Bridge require that the Project construction begin in 2025. It is therefore necessary to obtain the needed right-of-way as soon as possible by means of condemnation. The findings required for the Board of Supervisors to pursue a condemnation action and acquire right-of-way from the Borchard property by eminent domain have been met. Adoption of the attached Resolution of Necessity will allow the condemnation process to proceed for 1.45 acres. Department staff and the County’s right-of-way agent will continue efforts to reach an amicable agreement, even if the condemnation process goes forward.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose to not adopt the Resolution of Necessity. This is not recommended as the acquisition of right-of-way is necessary to complete the project and to obtain the $9.8 million in federal funds required to rehabilitate the critically deficient Stevenson Bridge. Without the right-of-way, the Project becomes imperiled with the potential that Solano County would be required to pay back approximately $1.43 million in federal funds already expended on the Project to date.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has assisted in the preparation of this item and the process of condemning the properties.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION