Help Rebuild The Bonnie Brier Bridge
A severe storm on February 4, 2025 destroyed the only safe and legal access route for residents along with emergency services in our small mountain community
Boulder Creek Community Has One Way In and One Way Out
Article by Amaya Edwards
Costs are Mounting to Repair Main Access Bridge in Bonnie Brier, with Residents Still Cutoff
2nd Article by Amaya Edwards
A Critical Access and Safety Emergency
On February 4, 2026, after a severe storm, the only access bridge serving the Bonnie Brier community in Boulder Creek was rendered impassible when the road leading to the bridge collapsed and the bridge abutment failed
The event immediately isolated 21 homes from emergency services, and essential access for community members
Since that date, the community has organized an ongoing, coordinated response to restore safe access while pursing a long-term funding and engineering solution
The Bonnie Brier community is relying on a single access route through private property in a neighboring community with a bridge that is unsafe for emergency vehicles
Residents face fire risk, delayed response times for fire responders, and challenges with insurance and financing
This is not a simple inconvenience, it is a public safety emergency for our community of young families, elderly, disabled, retired, and fixed income households
The bridge replacement will put a financial burden on many of our residents
Some of our elderly, disabled, or fixed income community members may have to sell their home because of the financial burden to replace the bridge
Bridge Progress
Phase 1 - May 13, 2026 - Rock Solid Engineering, Easton Geology, and Britton Exploration began drilling core samples on one side of the failed bridge/road to determine bedrock depth
Phase 2 - Rock Solid Engineering, Easton Geology, and Britton Exploration will return on May 20th to drill core samples on the other side of the bridge
This will provide information for a soils engineering report to support the development of the bridge plans
The community is excited to see progress towards a new bridge
Your continued help is greatly appreciated
Please donate to the Bonnie Brier Bridge Fund
Bridge Progress
Phase 2 - Drilling Day 2 - 5/20/2026
Rock Solid Engineering, Easton Geology, and Britton Exploration completed their 2nd day of drilling on the Brier Dr side of the bridge
In about 5 weeks, the Soils Report will be ready to allow Morris Engineering to finalize the bridge plans
Hanagan Survey started their work on May 19th in support of the finalized bridge plans
We appreciate your continued support by donating to our GoFundMe page
Update 8/14/2026
The soils report from Rock Solid Engineering, geotechnical report by Easton Geology, and the survey map from Hanagan Survey should be done in the next week.
Morris Engineering is continuing to work on the bridge design but we are still in need of a contractor to support the demolition and retaining wall construction.
In addition, we need to hire a Biologist to apply for the CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife permit.
With El Nino coming, the community is worried that the road and bridge will fall into the creek and block the waterway.
Update – 10/12/2026
With Gavin Newsom proclaiming a State of Emergency to prepare for El Nino, the Bonnie Brier community continues to face substantial engineering, permitting, and funding challenges in replacing the community bridge
The survey map from Hanagan Survey, the soils report from Rock Solid Engineering, and the geotechnical report from Easton Geology have been completed
Unfortunately, the withdrawal of Morris Engineering has delayed progress and requires a new design approach. We are exploring new engineering firms, environmental studies, and permitting requirements.
Our immediate goal is the preliminary engineering and environmental work so we can apply for the required permits, establish project costs, and pursue long-term funding options.
Contributions could include:
Donate at the Bonnie Brier GoFundMe page
Information about potential grants
Contacts that could support the bridge project
Any support to advance our project would be appreciated.
As a small community in the Santa Cruz Mts, we believed that Santa Cruz County officials with the help of our elected representatives would provide supports for our community.
Through multiple meetings with the County, they determined that our bridge was not part of the county's infrastructure. As such, the Bonnie Brier community has received limited to little support.
In addition, Bonnie Brier reviewed the Governor's 2025 storm related disaster proclamation, but it did not include Boulder Creek. That meant FEMA loans were not available for our community.
Our situation has become a burden far beyond our small community’s ability to assume. This is why we are reaching out to the broader community for help. We have many people that will not be able to afford their portion of the estimated $2.5M it will cost to replace the bridge and repair the road.
Your donation would be greatly appreciated to support our continued bridge project.
Emergency Access Blocked
Fire trucks, ambulances, and rescue teams CANNOT reach our community
Fire Safety
Lack of critical infrastructure in a wildfire-prone terrain
Property Insurance
Concerns about maintaining home insurance, mortgages, and property values
Environmental Restoration
Required improvement of the creek habitat and ecosystem health