Four-Month Closure of Brookside Ave at Beaumont Avenue Starts Monday 1/30

Traffic congestion around Beaumont High School is expected to increase over the next four months due to closure of Brookside Avenue for construction of a bridge and road improvements.

Brookside will be closed between Beaumont Avenue and the south entrance of Beaumont High School from Monday Jan. 30 to May 31, according to a Beaumont Unified School District announcement.

The south entrance to Beaumont High School will be available from the west, but "it is recommended that the BHS entrance off Brookside be avoided because of serious traffic congestion and long wait times," district officials advised.

Areas for student drop-off and student pick-up suggested by the school district include:

- The Sports Park at the corner of Beaumont Avenue and Brookside, where "students should use the pedestrian gate off Beaumont Avenue to enter campus and to avoid Brookside."

- The Grange Hall area 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," district officials advised.

The district announcement of the Brookside closure ended with a word of caution for anyone approaching Brookside Elementary.

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

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.

"It's necessary for public safety," Yambot said. "Students from the school will be able to walk on dry ground, and wouldn't have to cross the wash.

"When the water crosses over the street we close the street," Yambot said. "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.

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.