Ford Model As and other classic cars will cross the new Jonata Park Road Bridge Thursday as part of an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new span.

The reinforced concrete replacement bridge over Zaca Creek on Jonata Park Road just north of Buellton and just west of Highway 101 is about 96 feet long and almost 37 feet wide.

Demolition of the former span, built in the 1916, began in June 2007. Public works officials had found the bridge to be structurally deficient after it received a 2 on a scale of 1 to 100 in a rating system that judges the soundness of bridges.

The $1.7 million Santa Barbara County Public Works Department project was funded with $1.4 million in federal funding from the Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program and $200,000 in local Measure D funds.

The ceremony is also scheduled to include 3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments Executive Director Jim Kemp and other county officials.

For safety, Jonata Park Road will be closed to through traffic near the bridge with traffic control from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the day of the ceremony. Motorists are being asked to use caution and obey traffic signs in the area.