By Lookout Staff

June 20, 2016 -- The reopening of Santa Monica's newly reconstructed California incline has been delayed until the end of summer, City officials announced last week.

The new reopening date, which will be announced in late July, will allow crews to complete the reconstruction of the Pedestrian Overcrossing -- which provides, pedestrian access to the beach from Palisades Park -- and the Idaho Trail, officials said.

The storied structure, which was closed in April 2015, had been originally slated to open on Memorial Day. The date was pushed back in November after crews embarked on an ambitious schedule to open both projects by early July.

But additional time will be required due to the Overcrossing’s "unique design and structural complexities," City officials said in a statement.

"Completing the Overcrossing before reopening the CA Incline ensures both the safety of the traveling public and construction crews," officials said.

"Building the two bridges concurrently is also ultimately the most expeditious and cost effective way to manage the project because it leverages the existing traffic closure and detours."

The 86-year-old incline was closed in April of last year for a $20 million replacement project that brought it into compliance with current earthquake safety codes. The old bridge, which appears in iconic images of Santa Monica, has been replaced with a wider bridge that includes an improved bike path and widened sidewalks.

The incline extends some 1,400 feet from the intersection of Ocean and California avenues at the top of the Palisades bluffs to PCH at the base and includes a 750-foot-long bridge.

Last October, construction crews reached the project's halfway mark after completing the third and final concrete pour for the bridge deck, capping the riskiest and most disruptive part of the project ("Construction Crews on Santa Monica's California Incline Race Against El Nino," October 21, 2015).

Since then, crews have been busy installing storm drains, erecting barrier rails, building the barrier between the bike path and vehicular traffic lanes and paving the bottom half of the roadway, officials said.

The closure of the Incline, which handled 15,000 vehicles a day, required an elaborate plan to reroute traffic in the heavily congested city, forcing detours that prolonged driving times.

However, fears of a traffic nightmare exacerbated by other capital improvement projects in the Downtown -- including the construction of the Expo light rail line and Colorado Esplanade -- failed to materialize, City officials said ("Major Construction Projects in Downtown Santa Monica Nearing Completion," March 24, 2016).

Nearly 90 percent of the California Incline reconstruction project is funded by the federal Highway Bridge Program, City officials have said.

Project updates are available at www.smconstructs.org. For questions about construction call (888) 303-6026.