An upcoming bridge project will change commutes in the coming days. Below is the announcement from the City of Eau Claire:
A recent inspection of the Eddy Street bridge, which is owned by Union Pacific, identified structural flaws. Immediate weight restrictions have been imposed on bridge traffic, and the bridge will be closed to all vehicular traffic during the week of May 5th. We understand that the closure will impact nearby neighborhoods. It also immediately impacts transit routes, because the weight restrictions prevent bridge use by our Transit busses. The closure impacts Transit Routes 4 and 3/4, which serve the Mt. Simon neighborhood. Our Transit Division is working to ensure continued coverage for those residents. For riders in the Mt. Simon area, please check for updates prior to taking your trip in the next few days by visiting Transit’s Facebook page or calling 715-839-5120. Also, stops affected by any service changes will have notices posted.
For more background, the bridge on North Eddy is one of two narrow bridges that cross railroad tracks, with the other being on Jeffers Road. As shared in this weekly newsletter from the City Manager, the bridges are privately owned by Union Pacific/Chicago North Western Railway. Due to the bridges’ private ownership, they are not eligible for State funding like Local Roads Improvement Program (LRIP), Local Bridge Improvement Assistance Program, or Surface Transportation Program (STP). Unless we can convince the private partner to rebuild the bridges, our options are to close them or to assume ownership and replace them using City funding sources, which are very limited. As longer-term goals, we are looking at how we can develop an MOU that indicates that we’ll take ownership and maintenance of the structure after replacement. Our goal would be to obtain grant funding and have the railroad cover our portion of the funding. We will also need to access the County bridge funding to complete these improvement or replacement projects.
On Thursday, May 1st, the City met with representatives from the County, the Department of Transportation, and Union Pacific on site at the Eddy Street Bridge. After that meeting and an examination of the structure, the DOT requested that the City close the Eddy Street bridge for structural safety reasons. Because Union Pacific owns the structure, they have agreed to complete maintenance work on it. The City will be requesting inspections and load ratings from Union Pacific to determine the level of maintenance required to potentially reopen the structure until a new structure and can be funded, designed, and constructed. On Thursday afternoon, the bridge weight rating was changed and is now at a five-ton restriction.
