Cascade Bridge is once again barricaded, and permanent replacement fencing is due to arrive next week.
But the seemingly eternal question of what to do with the 123-year-old bridge is still being probed by environmental planning firm Impact 7G. The bridge sits on the National Register of Historic Places, connecting downtown Burlington to Crapo Park.
Impact 7G was hired by Burlington to gather public input about the fate of the historic structure and is encouraging residents to fill out a survey by the end of the month.
The options boil down to three — restore the bridge, tear it down and build a new one, or just tear down the bridge without replacing it. Impact 7G estimates the rough cost a new bridge would be $3 to $5 million, while a restored bridge would be $6 to $9 million. The non-profit group Workin’ Bridges, which is only looking at solutions that would preserve the bridge, estimated rehab at a much cheaper $4.7 million.
Impact 7G estimates it would cost $250,000 to demolish the bridge, regardless of what happens after. The city closed the bridge to vehicle traffic in 2008, deeming it a safety hazard, then closed it to pedestrian traffic last year, citing the rusted structure as a falling hazard.
A Burlington man had to abandon his Jeep on the bridge this past weekend after bursting through the barricades when his brakes failed. But one vehicle is hardly an adequate stress test, especially for rehab plans that would reopen the bridge to regular traffic.
The online survey on Impact 7G’s website includes questions about where the bridge should rate for city projects, ways people would like to access Crapo Park and questions about how public dollars should be spent or if taxes should be levied.
A compendium of information about the bridge, as well as the Impact 7G survey, can be found at www.burlingtoncascadebridge.com
The site includes past engineering reports, historical documents, a brief slideshow presentation, and a project description. Paper copies of the survey are available at the Public Works building at 3510 Division St.
To go directly to the survey, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BQH3CXQ
The survey will close to public input on March 1 and will be followed by a public meeting.