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I17 bridge to get new name | Camp Verde Bugle | Camp Verde, AZ
I17 bridge to get new name Yearlong effort means victory for Dan Bell’s widow
VVN/Raquel Hendrickson
Elaine Bell, holding a photo of her husband Dan C. Bell, worked for months to have an I17 bridge named after the late DPS civilian reserve. http://www.cvbugle.com/news/2008/may/06/i17bridgetogetnewname/
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I17 bridge to get new name | Camp Verde Bugle | Camp Verde, AZ
Bell, worked for months to have an I17 bridge named after the late DPS civilian reserve.
Originally Published: May 6, 2008 3:34 p.m.
Raquel Hendrickson
Dan Bell just wanted to help. It was how he lived his life and it was how he died. This month, two days short of the second anniversary of his death, there will be a special ceremony naming the Verde River bridge on Interstate 17 the Dan Bell Memorial Bridge. How this came about is as much about his widow Elaine as it is about Dan. "It was a labor of love," she says. Part of her grieving process after his onduty death was a dogged determination to have her husband and his work remembered quite substantively. It became a huge lesson on the workings of government and a great appreciation for archaeology and Verde Valley history.
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Elaine Bell learned how to go around those who disliked the cause and find those interested in helping. And after 46 years of marriage that ended so unexpectedly, she has discovered a new independence that has helped her move forward into a new phase of life. Dan Bell was not a flashy guy. He was a quiet, relative newcomer, and not a lot of people in Camp Verde had a chance to know him in the eight years he lived here. He did the work he loved among complete strangers up and down the stretch of I17 that runs from Black Canyon City up through the Verde Valley. Dan Bell was a civilian reserve, a volunteer helping the Department of Public Safety, from July 2000 until his death in 2006. He was the face of reassurance for stranded, confused motorists and, primarily, for their children. Whether they suffered mechanical breakdown or were in an accident or were even part of a crime scene, Bell was there with blankets and Teddy Bears for the kids and an explanation of what was happening.
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As that name implies, she had to gather geographic and historic information about the area and the Verde River bridge and state it in her own words. She worked with the YavapaiApache Nation and its archaeologist Chris Coder. She reported on geology, flora and fauna. She gathered information from state engineer Janet Doerstling. She went through old newspapers. She gathered signatures from all over the state on a formal petition. In frustrating times when she was ready to chuck it, her family, friends and neighbors were there buck her up a bit. "I have learned so much about the valley, the Indians, the settlers, the disasters and the bridge itself," she says. In the middle of her efforts in 2007, ADOT was busy making serious repairs to the bridge, which was built in 1961 and changed in 1975, 1986 and 1993. At its November 2007 meeting, the ASBGHN reviewed the application and gave its official approval in a 42 vote. The board also noted that the Yavapai County Public Works Department, the Yavapai Indian Tribe and the YavapaiApache Nation approved the change as well. DPS Director Roger Vanderpool was a supporter of the cause, as was ADOT Director Victor Mendez. Word of the approval became a day of joy in the Bell household. The work was not only for the husband she still loves but also for their children. It helped close a chapter in her http://www.cvbugle.com/news/2008/may/06/i17bridgetogetnewname/
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"He's always been in some sort of service to people," Elaine says. "I think he was a highway patrolman in his dreams as a kid." After about a year of regrouping and learning how do things by herself, Elaine Bell became focused on having Dan memorialized fittingly on the freeway he drove so often. She wrote the Governor's Office, the DPS, the Arizona Department of Transportation and Sen. John McCain. She completed an exhaustive application packet from the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names (ASBGHN).
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I17 bridge to get new name | Camp Verde Bugle | Camp Verde, AZ
life and prepare her for the next. Now she wants to work in a facility caring for the elderly, continue her painting and get involved with Verde Valley archaeology. The dedication ceremony for the Dan Bell Memorial Bridge is May 24 at 11 a.m. at DPS quarters, 1053 Finney Flat, Camp Verde. The Bells' children Tana Bryant, Daniel Bell and Andrea Weber will be there with grandkids in tow. The DPS chaplain and former YA Chairman Vincent Randall will be part of the ceremony. Afterward, there will be a barbecue. The Dan Bell Memorial Bridge on I17 is actually a twoinone situation. There is one bridge for southbound traffic (built in 1961) and another for northbound (built in 1979). It is located at milepost 287.93 just north of the interchange of I17 and State Route 260. It is approximately 522 feet long. Sign in to favorite this
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