Residents share personal experiences as community remains divided on bridge project at public meeting

Palm Springs residents offered passionate and conflicting testimony Thursday evening about a bridge project that would replace a flood-prone crossing on South Palm Canyon Drive near Bogert Trail, with supporters citing life-threatening emergencies and opponents questioning the project’s necessity.

The public meeting at Indian Canyons Golf Club drew dozens of residents from neighborhoods that would be affected by the proposed bridge at South Palm Canyon Drive near Arenas Canyon — just south of Oswit Canyon. The Palm Springs City Council voted April 9 to postpone a decision on the project for 60 days and directed staff to hold community meetings to gather more input before making a final decision.

The project, which has been in development since 2006, aims to provide flood protection at a crossing that has repeatedly closed during heavy storms, cutting off access to approximately 700 homes in the area. Emergency services responded to roughly 590 calls in that neighborhood over the past year, creating concern about access during flooding events.

City Engineer Joel Montalvo told the audience the estimated cost has risen to approximately $9 million to $10 million, funded primarily through $4.5 million in federal Highway Bridge Program funds. The city risks losing federal money if construction does not start by December 2026.

Several residents shared harrowing personal experiences from past flood events, particularly the Valentine’s Day flood in 2019. One man said he and his wife were forced to spend the night away from home when the road closed, and he eventually walked across the golf course to reach his house on an injured foot just weeks before scheduled surgery.

An Andreas Palms resident said he was among the 590 emergency calls last year and had to be transported to the hospital at 2 a.m. He described leaving his home at 8 a.m. one day during flooding and being unable to return until 11 p.m. and said he feared what would have happened during his emergency last year had the road been too dangerous to travel.

An Estancias resident who has lived in the area for years offered strong support for the project, calling it a life safety issue for the community’s aging population.

“I just found out we are the oldest community in Palm Springs,” the resident said. “Our population will have the greatest amount of risk in the event of another flood incident of having a health issue that cannot be addressed. This is simply a life safety issue.”

The resident added that practical considerations should outweigh other concerns. “I don’t care if this (flooding) happens once every five years, once every 10 years, once every 20 years,” she said. “This is a life saving issue for your whole community.”

However, a longtime Bogert Trail resident who has lived in the area for 25 years disputed the severity of past flooding, saying residents were able to get through during the 2019 Valentine’s Day flood.

“It wasn’t like overnight that we had a big flood,” she said. “It wasn’t like we were really in bad shape. We weren’t. I just want to let you know we do not want or need anything done there.”

The meeting highlighted the organized nature of both sides of the debate. Paul Valentino, who attended with several neighbors, said they formed a group months ago to support the project and created a website, KeepAndreasHillsSafe.org, to help residents understand the bridge proposal.

“Our group’s mission is to help the city understand we need and want our bridge and their decades of hard work on getting it is appreciated,” Valentino said.

Valentino said his group struggles with opponents accepting basic facts about the project, including construction timelines and past road closures. He cited a fire department incident report showing two water rescues were performed at the crossing on the same day the longtime resident claimed there were no problems getting through. The police department also posted on Facebook four times over 24 hours indicating the road was closed and emergency response would be delayed due to limited access, Valentino noted.

Fire Chief Paul Alvarado voiced strong support for the project, referencing recent severe weather events including the 2019 flood and Tropical Storm Hilary in 2023.

“Both of these severe weather events put citizens and firefighters in harrowing rescue situations,” Alvarado said. “I’m here tonight as your fire chief to tell you I support that bridge. I need to make sure that my rescuers can get to calls where they need to go.”

Some residents raised technical concerns about whether the bridge would solve flooding problems on Bogert Trail or potentially create new issues downstream. The proposed bridge would use four reinforced concrete box culverts to allow water to flow underneath South Palm Canyon Drive.

The project would replace the current roadway with an elevated bridge structure, allowing floodwaters from Arenas Canyon to pass underneath through a rock-lined channel. According to city staff, the area can generate runoff of up to 1.3 million gallons per minute during a 100-year storm event.

Montalvo said the city plans to update environmental reviews that were completed in 2012 before moving forward with construction. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) report for the project has been criticized as outdated given changes to the area, including conservation efforts.

Mark Waier, a consultant with Daley Strategies who facilitated the meeting, said residents can submit additional comments by email and noted that a second virtual meeting will be held Monday via Zoom. The feedback will be compiled in a memo for the City Council.

Construction would take approximately 50 weeks if approved after the delay, putting completion close to the December 2026 deadline for maintaining funding eligibility.

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More information: Complete details about the project, including how to attend the virtual meeting on Monday June 2, can be found at this city website.

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