Students and motorists adjusted this week to the closure of Brookside Avenue southeast of Beaumont High, with a little help from vigilant police and school officials.

The closure of Brookside for bridge construction and street improvements is expected to last until May 31, according to Beaumont city officials.

Men were at work Wednesday afternoon on the closed section between Beaumont Avenue and the south entrance of Beaumont High School.

There were also workers on the east side of Beaumont Avenue at Brookside, using a bucket truck to access lighting and traffic signals above the intersection.

Around 2:55 p.m., hundreds of Beaumont High students began filing out of campus exits onto Cherry Valley Boulevard, Beaumont Avenue and Brookside Avenue west of the closure.

Many used a new pedestrian bridge installed over the Noble Creek wash next to Beaumont Avenue, and several police officers on motorcycles and in patrol cars kept an eye on pedestrian and auto traffic.

Parents picking up students at Brookside Elementary faced their own challenges, as the closure shut off one of the primary access routes to the school.

The planned Brookside Avenue bridge will be just south of Beaumont High School, on Brookside between Beaumont Avenue and Oak View Drive. An engineer's estimate for the completed project is $1.5 million to $1.7 million, according to Beaumont Public Works.

The "arch culvert bridge" over Noble Creek is necessary first and foremost for students' safety, Ponce Yambot, administrative engineer with Beaumont Public Works, said in September.

"Students from the school will be able to walk on dry ground, and wouldn't have to cross the wash," Yambot said. "When the water crosses over the street we close the street. We have a gate there to prevent kids from crossing the water.

"Once or twice a year we have to close the street. It's a risky situation because whenever someone wants to cross a wash, it's dangerous."

Noble Creek drains a vast mountain watershed, and at Brookside Avenue it is capable of producing 11,000 cubic feet per second in a maximum 100-year event, Yambot said.

Contractors will be "asked to build something that's as wide as 40 feet and as high as 10 feet from the existing flow line," Yambot said.

The project will include a bridge for cars, bicycles, pedestrians, and maybe golf carts, City Manager Alan Kapanicas said. Road improvements, water and gas lines are also included in the project.

City officials hope to have the project completed by June 2012.

The south entry of Beaumont High School remains available from the west. 

"It is recommended that the BHS entrance off Brookside be avoided because of serious traffic congestion and long wait times," Beaumont Unified School District officials advised in a recent statement.

District officials suggest several options for student drop-off and student pick-up during the closure:

"1. At the Sports Park, located at the corner of Beaumont Avenue and Brookside, students should use the pedestrian gate off Beaumont Avenue to enter campus and to avoid Brookside.

"2. At the Grange Hall area, located at the corner of Cherry Valley Boulevard and Beaumont Avenue

"If entering the high school for drop-off or pick-up is required, parents will need to enter the school campus at the traffic light on Cherry Valley Boulevard and follow the new 'drop-off' route.

"For Brookside Elementary parents, we suggest you avoid this area and enter from the west of Oak View Drive.

"Thank you for your cooperation during this challenging time!"

City of Beaumont officials prepared a pdf map of the closure in relation to Beaumont High and Brookside Elementary, which is attached to this report.

Beaumont High School has about 2,500 students in grades 9-12 and is located in the northwest portion of Beaumont adjacent to Cherry Valley, according to the city.

Brookside Elementary has about 600 students in grades K-5 and is located southwest of Beaumont High between Oak View Drive and Beaumont Avenue.