Cecchetti Road in Arroyo Grande has been closed since a storm damaged a bridge along the road in 2023. Since then, locals tell me not having a temporary bridge has taken a toll on the community.
Jayson Harris lives in Arroyo Grande.
“It's something that should have been done a lot earlier that's just been kind of put off and now we're just see this mess and what it's become,” Harris said.
One Arroyo Grande resident told me off-camera that his 2-minute commute has become a 15-minute trip.
“That, to me, seems like an incredible inconvenience on a very dangerous road, full of a lot of farm equipment,” Harris said.
After a temporary bridge was denied in 2024, Supervisor Jimmy Paulding said the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors has put $250,000 toward a new temporary bridge. However, he said the funds are not enough. The cost will likely be around twice that.
“Construction costs are constantly going up,” Paulding said. “Inflation, just overall economic considerations. You know, it's a challenging environment to try to estimate the cost of construction.”
I spoke with Susana Harris who owns a business on Cecchetti Road. She said she looks forward to a solution not only for her business, but her community’s safety.
“This road being closed has affected the business,” Harris said. “It's really important that in case of an emergency, if an ambulance needs to go from Branch Mill Road, every second counts. They have to go all the way around. That's really, really crucial.”
Harris said she feels like projects that belong to the county have gone on the backburner.
“The county needs to remember there's a lot of people that live in Huasna and they're tired of having to commute all the way around,” Harris said.
The San Luis Obispo Board of supervisors will decide on the extra funding on October 7.
