COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. — Months after monsoon flooding washed out the Geronimo Trail Bridge, Cochise County officials are working on a temporary solution to restore access while facing an estimated $7 million price tag for a full replacement.
The bridge near Mile 13 on Geronimo Trail was damaged during monsoon rains in August, forcing the county to close the road. The closure has affected ranchers and Border Patrol agents who use the crossing, leaving them to find alternative routes.
Cochise County District 2 Supervisor Kathleen Gomez said restoring access is important for the area.
"It's very important for my district that we have that bridge," Gomez said.
But rebuilding it comes with a significant cost.
"You're looking at $7 million for a bridge," Gomez said. "That's not something a rural county has just, you know, in a pot somewhere."
County officials say funding is only part of the challenge. State-set expenditure limits also restrict how much the county can spend, according to Cochise County Board of Supervisors Chair Frank Antenori.
"Even if we had the general fund money, we couldn't spend it because we would exceed our expenditure limit, and then we suffer a penalty," Antenori said. "The state imposes a penalty on us for overspending over that expenditure limit."
Ranchers impacted by closure
Kelly Kimbro's family has been ranching off Geronimo Trail for decades. She said flooding in the area has been a consistent problem and described how quickly conditions deteriorated when the bridge washed away.
"The flood came fast and epic and the wall slowed it up and backed the water up past the (Geronimo Trail) bridge and then the gates started washing off," Kimbro said in a statement to KGUN, adding that the force of the water eventually took out the bridge.
With residents and others still needing a way through the area, the county is moving forward with a temporary low-water crossing.
"It can be a concrete road in the wash, and then the public works guys are going to chip seal it up to where the dirt road," Antenori said.
County officials say the temporary project will cost less than $1 million and will be paid for using flood district and public works funding.
"We still have to be able to get back and forth," Gomez said. "So we are doing that low, low river crossing."
County supervisors are also working with a state representative on legislation addressing emergency spending, though officials said that process could take more than a year.
For now, the temporary crossing is expected to provide an option for people who need to travel through the area while the county faces the much larger challenge of funding a permanent replacement.
The board of supervisors is working with state representatives to create legislation for emergency spending, despite the expenditure limit, but that can take over a year to complete.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
