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Clinton Street commuters have some time to prepare, but they had better start thinking now about what they’ll do during a yearlong bridge closure set to begin in 2010.
The Fort Wayne Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved a revised coordination contract with the Indiana Department of Transportation for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge on Clinton Street over the St. Marys River.
In order to cut costs and protect the area’s parks, the project will no longer include a temporary bridge for Clinton Street traffic, City Engineer David Ross said. This will mean a saving of about $1 million for the project, he said, but it will require that the 26,000 drivers using the bridge each day find an alternative route.
Dan Avery, executive director of the Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council, said the state will be in charge of setting the official detour, but that will likely use other state routes and be beneficial mostly to those driving through town.
Daily commuters should try to plan the best alternates for specific trips downtown, Avery said.
“My guess is there would be multiple detours,” he said. “Use your own wisdom and imagination.”
Despite having the transportation artery cut just south of Science Central, museum President Martin Fisher said Wednesday that he isn’t too concerned about the project as long as people have access to the science museum.
“As long as they can still get into our parking lot and out of our parking lot, I don’t think it would impact us,” he said.
Fisher said he had not been aware of the project because he has been at Science Central only for a few months. Because it is a destination, he said, the museum shouldn’t lose much attendance from normal traffic not driving past.
The new construction contract cuts the project’s budget from $8.1 million to $7.8 million. The city’s share dropped $11,000, to $1.9 million.
Although the city is moving forward with the project, Ross said officials still have not identified the source of the city’s share of construction funds. The cuts shouldn’t reduce the scope of the project, other than elimination of the temporary bridge, he said.
“We’ll have to be watching this project carefully to make sure we stay within our budget,” Ross said.
Ross said a temporary one- or two-lane bridge probably wouldn’t have solved traffic concerns for Clinton Street, which is three lanes across the river, and it likely would have hurt neighboring Headwaters Park and Lawton Park.
The city completed three public workshops to allow residents to help select the style for the new bridge. An arched, truss-style bridge with pedestrian/bike trails on both sides was chosen. Final design details will be determined as the project progresses.
Ross said the city hopes construction can begin in 2010 and the work would be completed in 2011.
Other than being an aesthetic entrance to downtown Fort Wayne, the project is expected to reduce maintenance costs for the state and fit in with the state’s plan to improve Clinton north of the bridge in the future.
The current bridge was built in 1967 and rehabilitated in 1985. Its sufficiency rating is 64.6 out of 100.
The city said this is a concern but that there is no immediate threat to public safety.
blanka@jg.net
