Defenders of the Green Bridge have lost another round in their legal battle to stop the state from replacing the span with a seismically safe modern crossing. An appeals court has rejected an effort by residents to preserve the historic character of the bridge at the southern end of Point Reyes Station.
The state Department of Transportation has been trying for years to replace the nearly century-old truss bridge that crosses Lagunitas Creek near the San Andreas fault. The bridge marks the town’s southern gateway on Highway 1, and some residents consider it a symbol of the town.
A group calling itself Friends of the Green Bridge filed a lawsuit against Caltrans in 2018, alleging that the project violated the California Environmental Quality Act by unfairly discounting seismic retrofitting as a less intrusive alternative to replacing the bridge.
Two years later, Marin County Superior judge Andrew Sweet ruled against them, and they appealed to the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco. The group’s attorneys argued that Caltrans should have created a new environmental impact report that considered retrofitting as an alternative and circulated the report for public comment.
On Sept. 29, the three-judge appeals court panel that reviewed the case upheld Judge Sweet’s decision and dismissed the suit. “We truly appreciate the attachment many members of the community have to this historic bridge,” the ruling said. “However, safety and accessibility are valid governmental concerns.”
The ruling found that Caltrans had conducted extensive public outreach before recommending that the bridge be replaced.
“Our independent review of the record reveals that Caltrans consistently engaged and included the public in consideration of a retrofit option throughout the environmental review process,” the appeals court wrote. “And we have concluded that substantial evidence supports Caltrans’s decision to remove a retrofit option from further environmental review. Nothing more was required.”
Bob Johnston of Inverness Park, the leader of Friends of the Green Bridge, said the group was unlikely to appeal again.
“Caltrans came and they proposed to tear the lovely-looking old bridge down and replace it with these urban-style bridges—great big concrete monstrosities,” Mr. Johnston said. “They are very authoritarian. They really do not give a hoot about what citizens want.”
Still, Mr. Johnston acknowledged that a retrofit would not have been a long-term solution. “It would get us another 20 or 30 years, and then maybe we could get a better-looking bridge out of Caltrans,” he said. “We know we’re eventually going to have to bite the bullet, but this would have given time to maybe get an alternative design process.”
Matt O’Donnell, a Caltrans spokesman, declined to comment on the ruling but said that the agency planned to hold another public meeting as it moves forward with its plans. He did not say when construction might begin.
Mr. Johnston, who has spent years resisting Caltrans’s plan, said the agency had made some “cockamamie” arguments in its legal filings. “My interest in this is basically as a citizen who doesn’t want to see a big, ugly hunk of junk at one end of our town,” he said.
He and about 20 others formed Friends of the Green Bridge in 2018, suing Caltrans a month after the agency filed its final environmental impact report, which considered five design alternatives and a no-build option. Caltrans selected a three-span, concrete bridge estimated to cost $8 million and take a year to construct. It would require a three-week closure of Highway 1.
The plaintiffs alleged that the agency had failed to consider legitimate seismic retrofit alternatives or formulate mitigation measures to limit the disruption caused by construction, including noise, dust and vibrations. The suit said the environmental study also failed to address the economic toll and noise impacts on nearby residences and businesses.
Mary Whitney, owner of the Point Reyes Animal Hospital, argued that the construction would have detrimental effects on her business, which sits adjacent to the bridge. This week, Ms. Whitney said she had faith that the community would continue to support her clinic despite the disruptions.