Brawley roads reopen - People's Press

BRAWLEY – City officials, staff, developers, and residents rejoiced at the official opening of two critical roadways connecting Brawley’s east end to its west end, concluding the 15-year-long construction projects that stalled in the wake of the housing crash back in 2008 and have since struggled to reach the finish line.

The ribbon cutting ceremony was held to an audience made up of majority public servants as Mayor George Nava spoke at the event, held on Friday morning, October 27 at the east end of Legion Road near Walmart in Brawley.

The new and much-needed corridors connect Highway 86 to Western Avenue, Legion Road and Wildcat Drive, and Wildcat Drive from Highway 86 to Dogwood Road in Brawley. In terms of cost and funding, the projects are noted as over $1 million sourced from the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant, over $2 million sourced from the same, and over $4 million sourced collectively from the City of Brawley, developers of Latigo Ranch, Malan Park, Victoria Park, and the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant as well, respectively. The projects all included new road with curb, gutter, sidewalk, handicap ramps, street lights, and striping.

“You look around and there’s a lot of people that put in hours and hours and hours (of work), so it’s a huge accomplishment,” Nava said during a speech.

The mayor said that roads like these are the “foundation of a community,” encouraging greater access to residents residing on either side of the train tracks and opening up new opportunities for home developers and greater economic development, in general, along the way.

“We wanna see this area develop even further,” Nava said, noting that one developer has already expressed interest in the adjoining property.

Steven Eugenio from contracting company Rove Engineering said the “ballpark $2.7 million” project went smoothly and reported “no complaints.”

“Everything was built correctly from the start, and the design process as well,” Eugenio said.

Robert Ybarra, born-and-raised Brawley resident, has seen firsthand the entirety of the project from his vantage point living in the abandoned housing development originally known as McMillan Latigo Ranch. He said that there were only about 18 houses completed throughout the 15 years he lived there.

“It’s easier for me to now go into the stores or the gas station and stuff definitely, and it’s easier for the kids too,” Ybarr said. “Like I don’t have to worry about them walking down Dogwood.” He says he’s most looking forward to the addition of “bypass” over Dogwood Road as well as a golf course he has heard talk of being erected.

“It took a lot of people to make that happen, and we certainly appreciate that very much,” said Mayor Nava. He thanked other city officials, the Chamber of Commerce, consultants, engineers, the Public Works Department, and most especially the “community for their patience” in the process.

Developer Marty Coyne spoke during the ceremony as well, standing alongside his daughter who was also involved in the process. Coyne noted that from 2008 to 2018, the subdivision was “abandoned” and overrun by weeds and the growing unhoused population. There were only 18 of 268 homes built then, although now he estimates that figure to have jumped to nearly 75%.

Coyne spoke of a coming park complete with a soccer field set to be completed within the next 30 days, and just in time for increasing demand from parents of young athletes.

Virginia Mendoza, a City of Brawley Public Works employee who was formerly a part of the Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC), was thanked by name for her critical role in completing the long-awaited construction projects, ultimately cutting the ribbon.

She has been working for the City of Brawley for almost 26 years, she said, and as a Brawley resident herself hopes that these projects will help Brawley to “grow even bigger than it is”.

“I’m excited about the fact that we’ve got all of this subdivision that’s here, and they won’t have to go all the way through Highway 86,” Mendoza said. “They’ll have a different type of access. Now we have our emergency response teams that will be able to get to where they need to quicker, so it’s very exciting.”

In the future, the segment of Legion adjoining Highway 86 will see an additional two lanes added to the existing two lanes, as well as bike lanes to encourage alternative transportation methods.

Sarina E. Guerra

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