Eau Claire (WQOW) - Fall is filled with bright colors;
next fall could be filled with even more orange in Eau Claire, as in construction orange.
The city of Eau Claire is reviewing its 2013 budget and replacing
a bridge outside a popular park is on the table.
The causeway bridge is just one of
two entrances to Carson
Park.
"The sidewalks that
are there are in very poor condition, on the approach street that goes up to
the bridge," says Brian Amundson, the City of Eau Claire Interim City Manager.
The bridge is just shy of 80 years
old and is still structurally sound but considered obsolete.
Amundson says, "It has what's called a sufficiency rating of about 47
on a scale of 100. Bridges that fall below 50, are eligible for federal bridge
funding to replace the structure. There's a conflict between pedestrians and
people fishing from the bridge and so on, so we need to design the facilities
in a way that we can accommodate those various uses. And, that maybe includes
changing the actual contouring of the riverbank.
The earliest the bridge would be
replaced is fall of 2013. When construction does happen, the only way in and
out of the park will be the Menomonie
St. entrance.
"We do have that
second way in; we'll try to do the timing in such a way that we have the least
impact on the events. You know, we have marathons and running events all the
time, along with baseball and football," says Amundson.
Replacing the bridge and doing the
road work will cost $1 million.
The city will apply for federal aid to cover about half.
"The next steps
are, we need to do more detailed engineering, once funding is in place, then we
have to go out and do actual physical surveys, begin the preliminary design
update, estimates of cost, submit permit applications, submit funding
applications, a whole series of steps like that," explains Amundson.
The city is budgeting a half a
million dollars for the project. The
city council will hold its final budget meeting on November 7th.
Anther
bridge project in the works is replacing the Water St. Bridge. The Department of
Transportation is looking to start the $8 million project in 2015.
