The City of Newport Beach formally dedicated the new Sunset Bridge and parking lot expansion project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
The new bridge, at Superior Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway, connects Sunset Ridge Park with a larger, more convenient parking lot. The project will support greater use of the park’s sports fields, picnic areas and playground spaces while creating a safer crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists at one of Newport Beach’s busiest intersections.
The new parking lot has 129 parking spaces, about double the previous number of spots. City recreation officials said the bridge and expanded parking lot will increase the use of Sunset Ridge Park’s baseball and soccer fields by about 40 percent and allow City summer camps to use the park for the first time.
Construction of the concrete thrust-arch bridge cost $11.5 million. The entire project, including the bridge, new parking lot and improvements to Sunset Ridge Park and nearby Sunset View Park, was $15.5 million.
At 210 feet long and 12 feet wide, Sunset Bridge required about 100 truckloads of concrete to build. Construction took about 18 months.
The project was first proposed about a decade ago, when the California Coastal Commission declined the City’s request to add a new parking lot near Sunset Ridge Park. As an alternative, Newport Beach proposed a connecting bridge and parking lot expansion, which was supported by the commission.
