Healdsburg Memorial Bridge to Receive a Facelift

It's official. 

The City of Healdsburg will commence drilling underneath Healdsburg Memorial Bridge in the first phase of the bridge's rehabilitation. The exploratory drilling will begin in August according to a story posted in the Press Democrat.

Healdsburg Director of Public Works Mike Kirn said during Monday's meeting of the Healdsburg City Council that before any drilling can begin, the city needs to tie up some loose ends with the scheduling of the driller and some regulatory agencies.

The drilling -- which is scheduled to take two days -- will give engineers and designers a sense of the soil's characteristics, necessary to implement a sound foundation and bridge centerpiece, according to the PD's story.

As , the rehab project has been an on-again, off-again, on-again issue for more than a year as to put together a plan.

Funding for the renovation of the Healdsburg Memorial Bridge is said to come from mostly federal funding. However, the City of Healdsburg will need to

The city was planning to use redevelopment funds for its share of the funding, however the funds are in question because of the dissolution of RDAs throughout the state. City leaders however vowed that they would find a way to fund the project.

The bridge rehabilitation project is estimated to take 18 months of more, but for the members of the Friends of the Healdsburg Memorial Bridge, who have been lobbying for this project for several years, it's a first step that's been a long time coming.

Now we put the question up to the readers of Healdsburg Patch.

Is this a necessary project in the City of Healdsburg? Why or Why not?

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