Cibola lost a bridge to wildfire. $4.25 million is headed to the repair

Amy Etienne told AZFamily a trip to her fields that once took a little more than five minutes now takes over an hour. The Hart Mine Road Bridge near Cibola was a farm-to-farm crossing over the Colorado River. After the Island Fire damaged its timber supports, two center spans collapsed.

Cibola is dealing with more than a broken bridge. It lost another crossing, the Oxbow bridge, to wildfire damage in 2025, KJZZ reported. The two losses have made ordinary trips and emergency access more difficult for people on both sides of the river.

Federal funding is in place

In September, Arizona’s senators announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation would provide $4.25 million through the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program. The funding will go to the Bureau of Reclamation for emergency and reconstruction work on the Lower Cibola Bridge, also called Hart Mine Road Bridge.

The Reclamation photo accompanying this story shows the collapsed crossing. The agency’s release says the bridge is used mainly for farm-to-farm travel and refuge access.

What remains unclear

The September funding announcement did not give a construction schedule or reopening date. In October, we found no newer public schedule from Reclamation. The money is an important step, but it does not tell residents how long the detour will last.

The federal release identifies the bridge as a crossing used by farmers and for refuge access. Local coverage has also documented concern about longer routes and the condition of dirt roads used as detours. Until reconstruction details are public, the practical question for Cibola remains the same: when will the river crossing be safe to use again?