San Marcos officials and dignitaries gathered Friday, Dec. 15, to mark the completion of the new Via Vera Cruz bridge, which is scheduled to open within the next several days, according to the city.
The bridge has been named in honor of Pia Harris-Ebert, San Marcos’ first woman City Council member, who served for 24 years. The private dedication was held Friday morning.
Via Vera Cruz, which connects San Marcos Boulevard and Discovery Street, had been closed for construction since the summer of 2021.
“The dedication of the Pia Harris-Ebert Bridge is an exciting moment for the San Marcos Creek project, as this signals that we are in the home stretch for project construction,” Isaac Etchamendy, project engineer for the city of San Marcos, said in a city news release. “We greatly appreciate the patience and partnership from the San Marcos community throughout construction, and we also acknowledge the contributions of community leaders like Pia Harris-Ebert who helped bring the vision for this project to life.”
The span replaces a narrow road across San Marcos Creek that often flooded, and it provides significant safety and drainage benefits, the city stated in its announcement. The bridge has four lanes and includes sidewalks, an entrance to Paseo del Arroyo Park, which is still under construction, and dedicated bike lanes.
Paseo del Arroyo Park is scheduled to open in 2024.
In its announcement, the city credited Harris-Ebert with helping to establish San Marcos’ Redevelopment Agency, which allows the city to take in tax revenue directed toward capital improvement projects such as the San Marcos Creek Project.
In addition to creek restoration, the project has been a multiyear effort to improve traffic flow and pedestrian access along San Marcos Creek as the city endeavors to develop a central district for residents and commerce.
Harris-Ebert held office from 1982 to 2006, helping to oversee the creation of the agency that led to the creek project’s reality.
In a 2006 North County Times story, Harris-Ebert recalled working with then-Mayor Lionel “Doc” Burton and then-City Manager Rick Gittings to create the city’s Redevelopment Agency during difficult economic times.
“Rick saw the advantage of implementing it. The city was in the red. It was not a good time for San Marcos,” Harris-Ebert told the North County Times in 2006 as she prepared to leave office. “But he had a vision.”
The agency led to the redevelopment and widening of San Marcos Boulevard in the mid-1980s, among other projects that would boost the city’s growth, and the eventual launch of the San Marcos Creek Project, which is now in its final stages.
“(Redevelopment) in itself spawned all these other things that wouldn’t have happened,” she told the North County Times.