APPLE VALLEY — The nearly 3-mile-long walking path atop the eastern bank of the Mojave River is approximately 60 percent complete, but the finish date has been pushed several weeks to accommodate an extension of the project to the town’s southern border.
Work on the Mojave Riverwalk South project began on Oct. 19, Town spokeswoman Kathie Martin confirmed Tuesday, and will result in a 12-foot-wide concrete trail from the Bear Valley Road bridge south to Poppy Road. Officials previously said the project would take 90 days to finish, an estimate that came with a mid-January completion date.
But Martin said that date has been continued to Feb. 1 to account for the California Transportation Commission’s approval of the town’s application to extend the project. Initially, the riverwalk was to end at Tussing Ranch Road, but the CTC approval expanded the walkway approximately a quarter of a mile to Poppy Road.
Work has not started on that stretch of the riverwalk because the extension now requires approval from the San Bernardino County Flood Control District, according to Martin.
“We’re on their agenda for next week,” Martin said.
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And while the town awaits approval from the flood district, crews recently focused work on a stretch of the anticipated pathway situated behind the Jess Ranch Marketplace, between Best Buy and Cinemark. Black Friday played a role in that decision, according to Martin.
“They worked the northern end (of the riverwalk),” she said, “to get the part behind the shopping center done before Black Friday because they were impacting the parking in the shopping center.”
On Tuesday, work included placement identification for four rest areas along the trail that will include benches and shade structures.
The Mojave Riverwalk South project is one segment of the larger Mojave Riverwalk Master Plan. A portion of the work identified in the master plan falls under the city of Victorville’s jurisdiction, according to Martin, who said that city is currently in the design phase.
The work within Victorville’s purview will connect the current project to the Yucca Loma Bridge via the northern end of the Bear Valley Road Bridge.
Once complete, the Mojave Riverwalk South will include several access paths into the adjacent communities, including Jess Ranch and Sun City.
Source: Matthew Cabe, Daily Press
