Crumbling Wheaton bridge raises question of bus safety

Wheaton's Manchester Road bridge is a known problem spot for heavy vehicles that may be rebuilt as soon as this fall.

In the meantime, the crumbling structure is forcing school officials in Wheaton to take a closer look at its practice of transporting students over the bridge.

The safe use of the bridge is an ongoing concern and cost for the city. Fire trucks cannot use the bridge, delaying response times. And part of one of the bridge's retaining walls collapsed onto the pedestrian sidewalk late last year.

In appearances, the bridge looks worse than ever as winter weather and temperature swings caused more cracking and peeling of its concrete.

City staff did a visual inspection of the bridge last week and deemed it structurally sound for vehicles weighing 5 tons or less.

Asked last week if that means it's safe for school buses to use the bridge, City Manager Don Rose said it's up to school officials.

"I don't know that I've ever seen anything go over the bridge other than cars and pickup trucks," Rose said. "I don't know that school buses do use the bridge. But if they are, they probably shouldn't be."

As it turns out, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 does have bus routes that take children over the bridge on the way to and from Jefferson Preschool and Monroe Middle School.

However, they aren't the large, stretch buses that typically come to mind when picturing a school bus. Those buses are unquestionably too heavy to use the bridge, officials said.

Instead, the district's bus company, First Student, uses smaller "mini" buses with a maximum weight of 9,449 pounds. However, that weight doesn't include the additional load created by the bus driver and any students on the bus.

First Student stated in an e-mail to District 200 that it has verified the 5-ton weight capacity of the bridge and "as our vehicles are under 10,000 pounds, we are legally allowed to cross the bridge. The posted weight limits apply to the empty weight posted on the side of the vehicle, not the gross vehicle weight rating."

That, however, may not be a correct interpretation.

Asked about the weight limits for the bridge Wednesday, Rose had a different view.

"The bottom line is that the bridge is rated as a 5-ton max capacity bridge," Rose said. "If the buses, when loaded, are less than 5 tons, that's fine. Beyond that, if they decide not to use the bridge, that's up to them. If they've got a busload of large people then, depending on what the total tonnage is, that could be an issue."

Bill Farley, District 200's assistant superintendent for business operations, said the district is asking questions about the bridge and the buses but remains confident that children are being safely transported.