San Diego State University is expected to soon get started on its historical project of building a bridge that crosses over the San Diego River in the Mission Valley area.
This project becomes a part of the university's site purchase which is named as SDSU Mission Valley.
Councilmember Raul Campillo represents the Mission Valley area and he believes this project is monumental for the Mission Valley area after a wait of over three decades since talks began on the subject.
“This is a very important project for Mission Valley. It’s about 30 years in the making, and moving it forward today with this (memorandum of understanding) is going to allow SDSU to embark on the environmental review process,” said Councilmember Raul Campillo,
However, at this moment in time, Campillo says that they are going to review how feasible it is in order to complete this project that has previously been promised to the local public.
“We are looking at the potential that this is completely unfeasible and therefore we won’t get the bridge. But we’re putting up a lot of front money,” Councilmember Campillo said during a meeting Monday. “This bridge is essentially what was communicated to the public as a promise for the benefit of this whole package. So we really need to know as quickly as possible if this is going to be feasible.”
Other city officials say this bridge is essentially inevitable, including the city's director of public works.
“I can’t see any apparent reason why we can’t build this bridge,” said James Nagelvoort, director of public works, regarding the expected cost of the project.
According to reports, the city of San Diego will pay up to $4.4 million in feasibility analysis, and also pay $6.5 that will cover the construction costs and its eventual staff time throughout the project's process.
Both sides are aiming at completing this project by the spring of 2026.
