Wheaton secures funding for major bridge project

Wheaton officials have secured the last major source of grant money for the city's long-sought Wesley/Manchester bridge project.

The question that remains is whether roughly $18 million is enough to pay for a new bridge that would carry Wesley Street over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Officials won't know that answer until bids are opened July 31.

"Contractors that deal in structures and bridges aren't getting a lot of work like some of the road builders are," said Paul Redman, the city's director of engineering. "So we still hope they are aggressive and hungry enough to offer some good pricing."

Replacing the aging bridge has been on Wheaton's to-do list for years. State officials say the bridge has a sufficiency rating of four out of a maximum possible score of 100.

So Union Pacific and DuPage County both agreed to contribute a combined total of roughly $1.55 million. Then in January, the Illinois Commerce Commission agreed to set aside roughly $9.7 million for the work.

This week, city council members approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation that secured more than $6 million in federal grant money.

"We got pretty much all of our funding lined up now," Redman said. "So we are OK to go and bid the project."

It's estimated Wheaton will have to contribute about $1 million for the project. But if the final price tag exceeds estimates, the city will have to pay more.

"The monies that are allocated from the different entities are locked in at a maximum right now," Redman said. "That's all we're going to get."

Still, officials are optimistic that work will start in September or October with planned improvements to the nearby Illinois Prairie Path structure that goes over Wesley and Front streets. The height of that pedestrian bridge would be increased.

Work on the roadway bridge - used by roughly 10,000 cars and trucks daily - would start in the spring.

Once completed by the end of 2010, the new bridge will be wider and higher than the existing structure. It also will be strong enough for fire trucks, public works vehicles and school buses to use.

While the existing bridge was placed over the tracks in Wheaton in 1917, it was built in 1877 as part of a larger crossing in Iowa before being moved to its present location.