A SLO County road washed out during 2023 storms. Now a temporary bridge replaces it
Three years after Cecchetti Road washed out during the 2023 storms, San Luis Obispo County has completed a temporary bridge there, Supervisor Jimmy Paulding announced on Friday.
“This is a huge win for our South County communities,” Paulding said in a news release. “Restoring access at Cecchetti Road improves traffic circulation, reduces congestion at Harris Bridge and on East Cherry Lane, and supports the agricultural operations and small businesses that depend on this route every day. Just as importantly, it bolsters emergency response times and restores a critical evacuation route ahead of fire season.”
The road was once a low-water crossing that historically flooded with water from Arroyo Grande Creek. The bridge will be more resilient to future storms.
Once the county finishes the design, permitting and environmental review process, construction could start on the permanent bridge in the spring of 2027.
“For more than two years, I’ve been pushing to move the permanent replacement project forward as quickly as possible,” Paulding said in the release. “As it became clear the permanent bridge would take longer to deliver, I fought for a temporary solution to ensure the community wasn’t left without access.”
Originally, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors did not plan to fund a temporary bridge.
But in November, Paulding worked with county staff to find leftover funds from other bridge projects to finance the project, the release said.
“This project is really about persistence and problem-solving,” Paulding said in the release. “When some questioned the necessity of this bridge and the board initially turned it down, the South County community didn’t give up. We rolled up our sleeves and kept pushing until we found a way to make this bridge happen and regain the access this community needs and deserves.”
Paulding’s opponent in the upcoming election, Adam Verdin, announced on Thursday that he contributed to the project, too.
Originally, the county planned to build a 60-foot temporary bridge, but Verdin said he advocated for the bridge to be 100 feet long so that it’s more resilient to higher flows in the creek, according to a statement on his website.
Meanwhile, Verdin connected Souza Construction with Sterling Equipment in Boston to get parts needed for the permanent bridge, which are now waiting in San Luis Obispo County, the statement said.
“What matters is the outcome,” Verdin said in a statement. “The original plan would have left these communities once again cut off or with lengthy detours every winter. That wasn’t acceptable, so we worked to deliver a solution that makes year-round access far more likely.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 11:43 AM.
