Redwood City, CA – Construction has started on a new pedestrian bridge that will allow public access to the Inner Bair Island and trail. Supportive neighbor, Pete’s Harbor, moved an outer harbor dock to facilitate the project.
In the latest development of the multi-year public access project for Bair Island, the bridge will be installed just before the entrance to Pete’s Harbor and will soon connect Bair Island Road to a newly restored Inner Island trail.
This week, construction crews led a barge carrying bridge pilings from the shore into the slough – a job that required adjustment of the docks at Pete’s Harbor, which is across the waterway from Inner Bair Island.
Pete’s Harbor has long endorsed the restoration project and owner Paula Uccelli, who sits on the Bair Island Task Force, said she is happy to help facilitate the latest construction.
“We support this project, which will allow our community access to the natural beauty of Bair Island,” Uccelli said. “We’re more than happy to cooperate with our neighbors by removing one of our docks.”
Construction is expected to last about two to three months and is being performed by B.K. Cooper & Associates, a Northern Californian firm Uccelli has similarly retained to perform a survey of Pete’s Harbor property for needed repairs. The boat slips at Pete’s Harbor have not undergone major repairs – beyond routine maintenance – since 2005. The Harbor repair-needs survey will begin in January once the harbor is vacant.
Following the bridge installation, crews will start work on two viewing platforms and improvements to the graveled trail.
The latest project is all part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s ongoing effort to restore 1,400 acres of Bair Island, a 3,000-acre portion of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and return it to its natural condition as tidal wetlands.
Bill Carroll