A journey’s path is seldom straight. Sue Downing can attest to that.
What would seem a near certainty—the addition of Elgin’s 1922 Babocomari Creek Bridge to the National Register of Historic Places—has run into an obstacle.
Actually, two.
A 2009 inventory of the bridge prepared for the Arizona Department of Transportation’s (ADOT) National Register of Historic Places Program (NRHPP) found it “ineligible” due to “alterations” circa 1940 and 1999.
“I knew from the start that the average application [for the National Register of Historic Places] required over 100 hours in research but I did not anticipate ADOT throwing in the ‘monkey wrench’ that the bridge had been moved circa 1940,” Downing wrote in an email. “None of my research supported this and it has delayed my attempt to get this 102-year-old bridge listed. It will be difficult to disprove this claim.”
Then a 2022 ADOT report on bridge integrity found the structure “poor.” And based on that report, it is scheduled for replacement by ADOT in 2027, using federal funds.
“ADOT inspects bridges on and off the state highway system at least every two years and shares the result with bridge owners,” wrote Garin Groff, ADOT public information officer for Southern Arizona projects, in an email.
In August 2022, two Santa Cruz County bridges were cited as “poor”—AZ Bridge #9001 (Harshaw Road) and AZ Bridge #8165 (Elgin). South32 funded the work needed on the Harshaw Road bridge. Which left the Elgin crossing to be addressed, said Leonard Fontes Jr., Santa Cruz County Public Works Director.
Coincidentally, ADOT sent out a call for projects on Oct. 3, 2022 regarding the availability of federal funds for the Off-System Bridge Program. The county applied and their application was accepted. As a result, the county will receive $3.9 million to replace the Babocomari Creek Bridge.
“These [federal funding] opportunities don’t come around every day,” Fontes said. For the county, it means very little local government money will be spent on the project. Also, ADOT will serve as administrators—hiring a project manager, creating the bridge design (FY 2025) and conducting the construction (FY 2027). “Our involvement is as a major stakeholder,” Fontes said. “We want to make sure anything we do takes into account the future.” That would include increased bicycle and pedestrian traffic, RVs, delivery services and public safety vehicles.
As to the bridge’s qualifications for the National Register, the history of the crossing was researched by Downing, who was aided by Terri Basinger-Powers and Alison Bunting. Their research provided information for the National Register application. Downing found that construction of the Babocomari Creek Bridge was originally approved by the Santa Cruz County Supervisors in 1920 and built in 1922 at a cost of $8,000. County engineer J.W. Larimore provided the plans, and local contractors Frank Lown and Tom Wood supplied the labor. Those same contractors were used in the construction of the South River Road Bridge outside Nogales, the only bridge in the county included on the National Register.
Historical perspective on the bridge, not a part of the application process, was provided by Cami Cheatham Schlappy of Sonoita’s Bowman-Stradling History Center. Her sentiment is shared by Downing. “For 100 years this bridge has allowed people to survive, a town to spring up and a community to form,” Schlappy said. “It provided access to goods and services, healthcare, socialization, education and anything beyond the town’s boundaries.”
Appreciation, it would seem, should come in the form of inclusion on the National Register.
“The inventory form’s preparer, Clayton Fraser, described and dated alterations to the bridge and recommended it not eligible for the National Register,” wrote William Collins, ADOT’s NRHPP director, in response to an email from the PRT. An inventory form is used to evaluate a structure’s viability for the distinction. Fraser, Collins said, is considered the foremost authority on the country’s historic highway bridges. Still, that “does not eliminate the possibility that Mr. Fraser may have erred in his facts regarding this particular bridge,” Collins wrote. “However, it would be Ms. Downing’s task to demonstrate that error.”
Jerry Cannon of Tucson, who worked on the 1999 bridge upgrades that included a concrete-deck pour and welding repairs, believes his improvements did not involve alterations that would eliminate it from National Register consideration. Cannon has more than 50 years of bridge engineering experience, including chief engineer for Navajo Bridge that spans the Colorado River near Lee’s Ferry. Cannon noted that while many historical pony truss bridges, such as the Babocomari Creek Bridge, have been torn down, there are new ones still being built.
Painting by Channing Smith, courtesy Teri Thomas
The 2009 inventory sheet prepared by Fraser noted that the alteration making it ineligible for historic designation was “truss superstructure moved to this location.” A bridge’s superstructure is the weight-bearing load comprised of the deck slab, girders and truss. A substructure distributes the load to the bridge footings and foundations. Which begs the question, can a superstructure be moved without moving the substructure?
Elgin residents expressed mixed feelings about the bridge’s future, or lack thereof.
Gene and Sharon Raymond have lived in Elgin almost 30 years. “We are in favor of a new two-lane bridge,” they wrote in response to an email. “Since we first moved here, there has been an increase in population and the associated traffic. Lower Elgin Road has had a significant increase in [the] number of houses as has the Hillcrest area. There are also many more wineries here now, which has increased the traffic from outside the area. We have experienced an increase in ‘failure to yield the right of way’ incidents. The number of times we have almost been across the bridge and another driver has come straight on without yielding has increased markedly over the last five years or so. This seldom occurred when we first moved here.”
Gay Moss, whose family homesteaded in the area in 1908, sees the bridge as a public safety issue. “People don’t slow down,” she wrote in response to an email. “They don’t stop.” And they don’t pay attention to signage advising alternating one-lane traffic. “Someone is going to get killed. I almost got hit myself. By a Border Patrol agent.”
Chris Johnson is on the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District’s Board of Directors and describes his feelings as “torn.” “It’s historic and scenic,” Johnson wrote. “And I love when locals decorate it for the holidays.” On the other hand, “it’s a problem for fire/emergency response. Ambulances should be okay to cross, but fire trucks are much heavier and shouldn’t cross the old bridge. That means response time can be much longer since the only other way is to go back to Sonoita and out 82 to Upper Elgin Road. That’s 30 extra minutes for a fire around [the] Mustang Ranch Rd area.”
Other residents are not so much in favor of a new bridge. Both Betsy Grimes and Janet Veta emailed that they want to keep things as they are. For Veta, a new bridge would mean larger vehicles traveling through the community. For Grimes, “it’s a very important part of local history—would like to see it repaired/restored.”
To this point, Cannon sees opportunity for compromise. He’s worked on projects where historic bridges were retained for light loads—pedestrians and bicycles—and new bridges constructed for contemporary transportation. Rerouting the road would be a minor issue. Old adjacent to new world would retain the “quaintness of the community” while giving local residents the safety they need.
Sue Downing agrees with Cannon. “I did not mind the 100-plus hours I invested in the research and completion of the application,” Downing wrote to the PRT. “But it was heartbreaking when I found out the bridge was destined for demolition and replacement. I believe it should be preserved as a pedestrian and bike bridge while the federal grant is used to build a new bridge that meets the current safety requirements of today’s vehicles.”
Editor’s note: The PRT thanks Sue Downing for her extensive research and contributions to this article.