New Bird Nests Prompt More Delays for Freeway Overpass Project

Photo credit: Jerry Friedman/Wiki Commons

By City News Service

Emergency repairs on a damaged overpass crossing the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway were delayed again Monday after more nesting birds were found.

The Theodore Street span has been out of service since Jan. 30, when an excavator loaded onto the back of a westbound tractor-trailer slammed into the crossing, located on the far east end of Moreno Valley.

Repair work was halted March 20 after inspectors with Skanska USA, the company hired to reconstruct the overpass, discovered two nests containing migratory birds, specifically Say’s Phoebes, Caltrans officials said at the time.

Work was scheduled to resume this week after the initial birds and their hatchlings abandoned the nest.

“Today, additional nests were discovered for several migratory bird species by Caltrans biologists while the contractor was installing wire mesh on the bents of the structure to stop future bird nests from forming,” Caltrans spokeswoman Terri Kasinga said. “Locating additional nests with eggs has again halted the job from moving forward until further notice.”

Federal law prohibits violating active migratory bird nests.

According to Caltrans, part of the existing bridge will have to be demolished to replace two of the span’s six girders.

Skanska was awarded a $2 million contract to fix the bridge. Work was originally expected to conclude in early summer, but officials have no timetable now.