Albion Bridge Stewards Sues Caltrans Over Albion River Bridge Project, Alleging Violations of CEQA
This is the press release from the Stewards. We are all working our other jobs today so we will put out something with more info and an interview later in the week. We are also working on a story on the Albion Fire Department’s prospective bond…
Albion, Mendocino County, Calif. — October 27, 2025 — Albion Bridge Stewards, a community nonprofit dedicated to preserving the historic Albion River Bridge and its surrounding coastal environment, has filed suit in Mendocino County Superior Court challenging Caltrans’ certification of the environmental review for the proposed Albion River Bridge replacement project.
The lawsuit alleges that Caltrans violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by certifying a legally deficient Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) that fails to provide a stable, finite project description and improperly defers crucial impact analyses and mitigation measures. The petition asks the Court to set aside Caltrans’ approvals—including its Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations—and to halt further project actions until the agency fully complies with CEQA.
At the heart of the dispute is the future of the Albion River Bridge, a 969-foot timber trestle structure completed in 1944 and listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources. The bridge is believed to be the only remaining wooden bridge on State Route 1. Caltrans proposes to demolish and replace it—at an estimated cost of $126 million to $155 million—over approximately one mile of corridor.
According to the filing, Caltrans initially told the public it would analyze options to rehabilitate the existing bridge to address seismic and other concerns. However, when Caltrans released its Draft EIR/EIS in July 2024, the agency eliminated rehabilitation alternatives from further review and evaluated only full-replacement “build alternatives,” postponing selection of a preferred design until after the public comment period closed. The petition contends this approach deprived the public of the chance to comment on a stable project and masked potential new or greater impacts that could vary by final design.
More than 200 comment letters and emails were submitted on the Draft EIR/EIS, including comments from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and conservation groups calling for specific mitigation standards and a reasonable range of alternatives, including preservation. The lawsuit asserts that Caltrans’ responses in the Final EIR/EIS, released August 8, 2025, were cursory and unsupported by substantial evidence.
The petition alleges significant, unavoidable impacts to aesthetics and cultural resources stemming from removal of the historic bridge, as well as inadequately analyzed or mitigated impacts to biological resources, noise, and transportation. It further challenges Caltrans for impermissibly deferring mitigation, lacking enforceable performance standards, and failing to recirculate the EIR despite substantial revisions and unresolved issues.
Albion Bridge Stewards seek a peremptory writ directing Caltrans to vacate its approvals, prepare a legally adequate EIR that includes feasible rehabilitation alternatives and enforceable mitigation, and refrain from further project actions until CEQA compliance is achieved.
About Albion Bridge Stewards Formed in 2017 and newly incorporated as a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, Albion Bridge Stewards is a volunteer community organization working to preserve the state- and federally listed Albion River Bridge, nearby Salmon Creek Bridge, and the scenic, environmentally sensitive Albion coastal environment.
Media Contact Jim Heid, President, Albion Bridge Stewards, jim@savehighway1.org
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