Latest news with #LeahNess
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
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, with details.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
City to hold meeting to discuss Dewey Street Bridge replacement
EAU CLAIRE — A meeting will take place today to discuss the replacement of the Dewey Street Bridge and look at possible design options. Also, it is now unclear if there will be federal dollars available to help pay for it. 'The Dewey Street Bridge is one of three bridges that cross the Eau Claire River in downtown Eau Claire,' said Leah Ness, the director of engineering for the City of Eau Claire. 'The structure was originally built in 1931 and has reached the end of its youthful life. We are looking at alternatives for replacement.' The meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Riverview Room at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Library. It will feature a number of design alternatives for residents to review and give input on, as well as room for discussion on other purposes the new bridge can serve. 'There has been discussion about parking downtown,' Ness said. 'Historically, there was quite a bit of parking along Dewey Street Bridge, so that will be a point of discussion. Do we maintain parking across the structure or [do we want] a bicycle connection from the trail on the north side to the trail on the south side?The library has an access point very near to the structure and there is a lot of pedestrian access along Dewey Street with the trails going through there.' The information collected will go into a preliminary plan which will be submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) in April. In May, a second public meeting will report back on project progress. 'Ultimately, final plans should be near complete near the end of 2026,' she said, adding that construction would likely begin in 2027. Plans to replace the bridge began almost a decade ago when WisDOT approved financial assistance to the City of Eau Claire for the project. The aim was for construction to begin in 2020. However, in 2019, the project got pushed back to 2021 when the 2019 bids were rejected by the city due the bids significantly exceeding the original project estimates. A re-bid was done on the project in 2021, but they remained three times higher than the 2016 estimates, and the city resolution to accept the bid failed. Early in 2023, the city council authorized the Engineering Department to apply for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Grant monies. A hole was discovered in the bridge two months later and the bridge was temporarily closed for temporary structural repairs. In June of 2024, the city posted 10 tons weight limit signs before the bridge. 'The existing bridge sufficiency rating is 48.3 out of 100,' Ness said. 'Typically structures with a sufficiency rating of less than 50 are eligible for replacement through FHWA bridge replacement and reconstruction program. The bridge [is] inspected on a three month basis at this point. Typically bridges are inspected not that often, so we have increased our bridge inspection to maintain safety and decisions with relationship to the structural integrity.' The total estimated cost of the bridge replacement depends on the design the city chooses to go with. As of Tuesday evening, the City of Eau Claire had not been informed yet if the federal grant money for rebuilding the bridge would be affected by President Donald Trump's freeze on federal grants. 'We at the city found out about the news the same as everybody else,' said Deputy City Manager David Solberg. 'We haven't received any communication either from the federal DOT, the Federal Highway Administration, or the Wisconsin DOT whether or not our funding for that bridge is affected.' As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze.
