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Future of covered bridge divides Long Grove candidates

The six village board candidates agree the covered, single-lane bridge into Long Grove's charming downtown is an iconic structure.

But in a history-minded suburb where preservationists have fiercely protected the downtown's past - some say at the expense of attracting new business - the future of the aging bridge became a divisive campaign issue during a Monday night forum hosted by the Palatine-area League of Women Voters.

The village's engineers are expected to detail the cost of several options at an April board meeting. Under one plan, Long Grove would replace the more than 100-year-old bridge (the cover was added in the 1970s) with an identical, single-lane structure. The village would pay for the full bill, previously estimated at about $500,000 to $600,000.

The village also has applied for federal funding that would cover 80 percent of the cost of replacing the bridge. But there's a catch: Long Grove would have to widen the bridge into two lanes, an expansion officials have said would accommodate heavier and wider vehicles and meet up-to-date federal standards.

Both proposals would give the bridge about the same life span, Village President Angie Underwood said.

But widening the bridge could cost, in total, at least twice as much, or about $800,0000, and that's an estimate from five years ago, Underwood said.

Trustee Stanley Borys, who is campaigning together with newcomers Bill Jacob and Michael Sarlitto, says the village should secure federal funding to replace the bridge over Buffalo Creek.

Sarlitto said the village should poll its 8,000 residents about what to do with the bridge.

"It's an icon," he said. "What we do financially to restore that needs to be balanced with honoring our legacy."

Jacob said a third option, making the bridge off limits to traffic but open to pedestrians, offers safety benefits and little cost to the village. He said there's "not a lot of pedestrian traffic, but a lot of cars going through there very fast."

Jacob, however, said the "most common sense" plan would be obtaining the federal financing.

"We can design it in such a way where we will maintain the character of Long Grove," Jacob said.

The other slate - Trustee Charlie Wachs, Steven Sintetas and Stan Razny - disagreed, saying the village could lose control over the design.

While he said he's exploring all the options, Razny stressed the bridge, in its current format, is an iconic symbol, one that graces the village's logo.

"Do we take the federal funds and let the federal government totally take over the bridge and

destroy the bridge and just put a concrete two-lane road? Clearly I'm not in favor of that," Razny said.

Wachs said the village is on the right track by hiring engineers to study all the proposals.

"We have to know what it's going to cost," he said. "We have to know what it's going to look like."

  Long Grove village board candidates debated the future of the aging covered bridge during a Monday night forum. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
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