Cost too high for city of Clintonville
By Bert Lehman
A new pedestrian bridge will not be constructed in W.A. Olen Park because the project would cost $244,000.
The idea of constructing a new pedestrian bridge in Olen Park, near the disc golf course, was previously discussed at the March 27 Clintonville Parks & Recreation Committee meeting.
At that meeting, Clintonville Parks and Recreation Director Justin Mc Auly told the committee that the Lynne Simpson family, who donated the funds to build the disc golf course, was interested in making a donation to help fund the bridge.
Mc Auly also said at that meeting that a donation of $10,000 had been made to fund a study to determine the feasibility of a bridge in that location. A feasibility study costing $6,500 was eventually approved by the city.
Mc Auly shared the results of the feasibility study with the parks and recreation committee at its Nov. 27 meeting.
He told the committee the estimated cost to build a pedestrian bridge in Olen Park, $244,000, included engineering and building the structure.
“The donor was disappointed with the outcome, obviously, because they really wanted this pedestrian bridge to be there,” Mc Auly said.
Mc Auly said that estimate is obviously out of the budget for a bridge.
He added there are many restrictions to overcome because of the floodplain in Olen Park.
The feasibility study, which was conducted by Short Elliott Hendrickson, evaluated floodplain impacts, accessibility, and cost estimates for potential bridge designs.
Potential designs had the following restraints:
- The pedestrian bridge cannot adversely impact the floodplain by raising water surface elevations 0.01 feet or greater.
- The bottom of the bridge superstructure must be 1 foot above the 100-year water surface elevation. An exception to this criterion was considered for one design alternative to reduce bridge size and costs.
- The pedestrian bridge must provide accessibility in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Without railings, this would require an approach ramp with slope of 5 percent or less. With railings, a 12 percent slope with intermittent flat landings can be used.
Three bridge options were presented in the study, with the recommended option estimated to cost $244,000.
Mc Auly said when he relayed this information to the donor, she said she’d prefer to use the remaining funds on the disc golf course rather than moving forward with the bridge.
“The bridge is feasible, just not financially feasible,” he said.