The community had a chance to chime in about the fate of the Cascade Bridge Wednesday night, but every option they were presented with was inordinately expensive, save one — complete demolition.
Local interest in the historic bridge is as keen as ever as Wednesday's meeting attracted about 70 people who packed into the Burlington Public Library meeting room. The group's earnest opinions were as varied as the options put before them.
The Burlington City Council hired environmental and planning firm Impact 7G to study the bridge and determine cost estimates for either rehabbing the bridge, demolishing the bridge or tearing it down.
According to a presentation by Impact 7G, the difference between rehabbing the bridge and building a new one is negligible. A new bridge for vehicles and pedestrians would cost between $3 to $5 million and will last 100 years, while a rehabbed bridge would run between $6 and $9 million and would stand about 50 years.
The cost of tearing down Cascade Bridge without a replacement would be about $250,000 — not counting the $47,000 already paid to Impact 7G for the study.
The city will have to spend some money regardless, as the bridge is a safety concern. Cascade Bridge, constructed in 1896, was closed to vehicle traffic in 2008 due to structural concerns and closed to foot traffic last year as the condition of the bridge worsened.
Impact 7G is holding meetings with stakeholders and the community, gathering input to present to the council. The agency also works with the State Historical Preservation Society, which must approve any major changes to the bridge.
If the city decides to keep the bridge or build a new one, locals will likely have to pay for it through higher taxes. Impact 7G indicated Burlington would likely only be able to secure about $1 million worth of federal funding for the bridge, considering the $17 million downtown redevelopment project funded by a federal TIGER grant.
The firm also pointed out that among the nearly 50 cities in Iowa with a population of 25,000 or over, Burlington already has the sixth-highest tax rate. Mayor Jon Billups has expressed repeatedly in prior meetings that he does not want to raise taxes.
As the meeting ended, the crowd was encouraged to fill out a survey packed with questions such as “How likely are you to support a tax increase for the purpose of preservation or reuse of the Cascade Bridge?”
Burlington resident Terry Arellano, president of the Friends of the Cascade Bridge group, said their engineer has a rehab cost estimate for the bridge that’s a fraction of 7G’s estimate. Arellano said an engineer was in Burlington earlier that day (Jan. 29) examining the bridge.
Though she did not have a rough estimate at the meeting, Arellano encouraged everyone to attend The Friends of the Cascade presentation set for 6 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 6) at F&M Bank and Trust. The group is dedicated to finding solutions to rehabbing and preserving the bridge, which is listed on the Register of Historic Places.`
Photos by Joy Mack