EC City to close off traffic on Eddy Street Bridge for repairs
EAU CLAIRE — The City of Eau Claire is expecting the closure of Eddy Street Bridge to have an impact on traffic as repairs become necessary.
'Right now, we are looking at potentially closing the bridge to vehicular traffic the week of May 19,' said Leah Ness, engineering director for Eau Claire.
According to the city's website, the Eddy Street Bridge, which is owned by Union Pacific, had undergone a recent inspection which identified structural flaws. Immediate weight restrictions were put in place, preventing semi-trucks, buses and other public transit from passing over the bridge.
'We did meet with the railroad and the Eau Claire County Highway Commissioner and Wisconsin Department of Transportation-Bureau of Structures on May 1,' Ness said.
'At that time, the city reduced the load restriction on the bridge to five tons, which limits there to be no semi traffic across the structure, or school bus traffic or Eau Claire transit traffic using the structure due to the weight restriction. So it has had an impact on Eau Claire transit bus routes, hence the reference to that on the city web page.'
Steps with Eau Claire Transit are currently being taken to ensure transport to the Mt. Simon area. Ness said they are determining detours and getting ready to get necessary information out to the public while determining the impact.
Part of the uniqueness of the situation comes from the fact that the bridge is privately owned by Union Pacific, or the Chicago North Western Railway, and goes over a railroad track. One way this can impact the bridge is through funding, as the private ownership makes it ineligible for state funding programs.
'Typically, if the city owns the structure, or the state [owns it], we'd have it in a repaired timeline and we'd have the inspection information,' Ness said. 'We'd understand what's going on with the structure and the maintenance related to it, and are able to make decisions based off of our inspections that are on a regular basis.
'When we were on site, they did indicate they would be willing to do maintenance to the structure. At this time, we don't know what that would entail. So we are looking at different options with the railroad moving forward. '
Ness said her hope is to meet with the railroad and the county this week to start things in motion, submitting a request for inspection and load rating.
'We'll have to talk through those details with them,' she said. 'Later this week, we'd probably have more details on timelines related to the process.
'We are at this point where we are looking at impact to transit and providing routes to detour routes around the structure. As we get into the project, we'll know more about working with the railroad on other impacts as well.'
As the project progresses, Ness said they would update their Facebook page and website, EauClaireWI.gov/EddyStreetBridge, with details.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
F-35 flyover joins air show
EAU CLAIRE — The Chippewa Valley Air Show has announced a new flyover involving the Wisconsin Air National Guard. The Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing will fly two F-35 Lightning II fighters over the show on Saturday. Among the most advanced fighters anywhere, the F-35 is a supersonic plane with advanced stealth features and a unique profile. It is flown by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, along with several allied nations. The announcement of the F-35 visit adds to a show that already includes the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's F-16 Viper demonstration team. the show takes place June 28 and 29.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Man sentenced in card theft case
EAU CLAIRE — An Illinois man pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of theft of movable property valued between $10,000 and $100,000 in an unusual case. The property? An extensive set of collectible cards. Daniel Monarrez, 33, was one of two people charged in the case. The court dismissed the charges against his co-defendant, Rosario Pillado, at the prosecution's request. Monarrez attended his sentencing by video link from the Racine Correctional Institution. The plea was the result of an agreement between the prosecution and defense, according to court records. Monarrez received an 18-month prison sentence with 18 months' extended supervision, but those were stayed. He will spend two years on probation after completion of his sentence in a Trempealeau County robbery case. A stayed sentence means the prison term will not be imposed if Monarrez completes probation without further incidents. The details of the latter case aren't well documented on the state's court database. Monarrez pleaded no contest to robbery with threat of force, theft of movable property and carrying a concealed weapon in 2024. But the online file is vague about what that sentence was. It says only that the state, defense and defendant made statements, then 'Defendant sentenced.' The Wisconsin Department of Corrections' inmate locator shows a little more, listing Monarrez's maximum discharge date as April 2030. That's six years after the conviction, which means Monarrez received less than the 15-year maximum sentence the charge could have carried. The case against Monarrez began last year after a woman contacted police to say a set of cards she inherited from her grandfather had been stolen and that she suspected Pillado and Monarrez. According to the criminal complaint, she sold a similar set of Pokemon cards for $10,000 and bought a car with the money. When Pillado asked how she could afford the cards, she mentioned the sale. Pillado didn't forget about the comment. He made repeated comments about the woman 'sitting on' a lot of money with the remaining collection. He and Monarrez visited later, and asked multiple times about whether her apartment had video surveillance. Pillado persuaded the woman to drive him to Arcadia while Monarrez stayed behind to take a shower. Monarrez arrived in Arcadia about 45 minutes later. The woman returned home and found the collection missing, along with an unknown number of baseball cards from her grandfather's collection. Finding the Pokemon collection required the thief to search. The woman told police she had moved it because she didn't trust the men based on their behavior. Last month the court heard that a witness needed for the case had stopped communicating and was removed from the planned witness list. That update also included the defense specifically telling the judge negotiations for a settlement were continuing.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
New endowment fund started to help homeless shelter's long-term needs
EAU CLAIRE—The Eau Claire Community Foundation (ECCF) has announced the creation of an endowment fund to help address the city's only emergency night-by-night homeless shelter's long-term needs. Sojourner House, operated by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of La Crosse, will be the ongoing recipient of a share of this fund which ECCF plans to grow through a conservative long-term investment approach aimed at growth. 'By investing in a conservative long-term approach, we're able to take those returns [and] build the fund while also distributing a share to a designated agency, which in this case is Sojourner House,' said ECCF President and CEO Wesley Escondo. As the fund grows through donations and investing those donations, the amount within the share given to the shelter should grow. 'If we're shooting for very safe six to eight percent returns on the fund, and we're only granting four percent, there's going to be natural growth intended to make sure that the fund is still around 50 years from now and at a higher fund balance,' Escondo said. The percentage of return will currently be entrusted to Catholic Charities which operates the shelter, but Escondo said 'if, for some reason, Sojourner House were to cease to exist for any reason, this fund could still exist to support a similar organization doing similar work, so it truly is perpetual and that is something very specific to Eau Claire and to the Chippewa Valley.' In addition to the endowment fund, ECCF also awarded Sojourner House a $100,000 grant. This, along with donations from other community organizations and municipalities, closed this year's funding shortfall which had been pushing Sojourner House toward temporarily shutting down for the summer. 'Eau Claire Community Foundation has really helped us work through this funding gap we found ourselves in for this summer,' said Rob Grover, the advancement director for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of La Crosse. 'They brought up the idea of establishing an endowment. We thought that was a wonderful way of trying to engage the community even more. We take in lots of funds through donations and we think this could be another vehicle.' To contribute to the endowment fund, visit or contact the Eau Claire Community Foundation. Information and ways to donate to the Sojourner House can be found at
