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College Park West residents press council for structural inspection and alternatives to bridge alignment
Summary
Residents of College Park West urged the Seal Beach City Council to request a structural-engineering inspection of a bridge tied to the Haines pipeline project and to study alternative alignments that would avoid the neighborhood; speakers cited Federal Highway Administration guidance on fatigue stress and asked for clearer project information.
Several College Park West residents told the Seal Beach City Council they remain concerned about a bridge alignment tied to the proposed Haines pipeline and asked the council to seek a definitive structural inspection before construction moves forward.
Mary Cobb, introduced as a Seal Beach resident, said she had reviewed the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration manual and focused on fatigue stress. Reading from the manual, she demonstrated how repeated bending causes metal fatigue and said, "we ask once again that you, the members of the Seal Beach City Council, request a more definitive inspection of this bridge before any adaptations be made." She said the demonstration was intended to show why the bridge should be examined by a structural engineer.
Ken Sy, also from College Park West, told the council neighbors are anxious and said the public has not received the level of detailed information they have requested. Sy said residents had proposed alternatives that could avoid the bridge, noting the Los Cerritos Channel on Harvard as one potential route and asking why that alignment had not been analyzed. He said the current communication process—submitting written comments and waiting—has not allowed for the interchange neighbors want.
Neighbor Charlie Kirkpatrick raised questions about aesthetics and property values, asking whether the council had seen visual renderings and what tree or landscaping impacts the project might have on neighborhood entrances.
Speakers pressed whether engineers who reviewed the bridge had considered its role as potentially the only way in and out of some areas, and whether seismic and dynamic stresses had been evaluated. No staff commitment to a new independent structural inspection was recorded on the meeting minutes; the speakers asked that the city request more definitive engineering review and to provide clearer, timely information to the community.
Those comments were made during the public comment period; the council did not take formal action on the Haines pipeline bridge at the March 10 meeting.
