Long-term solution for Wheaton's most-ailing bridge in sight

All that Wheaton residents needed to know about the condition of the Manchester Road bridge was visible in the signs warning pedestrians not to use the sidewalk along its south side.

Indeed, the city even installed a guard rail to act as a barricade against foot traffic on the sidewalk.

"It was in the name of liability," City Manager Don Rose said.

The fear was the potential collapse of the concrete wall. Then, about a week before Christmas, a 50-foot section of the wall did collapse.

The city fixed it for now, but more importantly, it's about ready to start working on a permanent fix. It just needs money.

"We knew it was going to at some point in time," Rose said about the wall collapse. "We were just hoping it was later than sooner."

The city repaired the wall with some additional shoring and left the guard rail and warning signs up. The work put a $43,200 bandage on a larger problem that will cost far more.

Revamping the bridge has been on the city's to-do list for years. The actual improvements have been slow in coming as the city jumped hurdles to get plans completed, acquire necessary land and gather funding.

Meanwhile, even city fire trucks won't traverse the bridge because of its condition.

Now the plans are 99 percent complete and much of the land is under city control. The missing piece is money.

City Engineer Paul Redman said he expects the plans to go out to bid this summer. The project will reconstruct much of the bridge, including the wall the city just repaired.

The city likely will issue new bonds to pay for the project after siphoning off about $2 million in bridge project money for the new city hall annex.

Rose said the city still needs to lock down exactly how much money the state will provide for the project. However, he expects the city ultimately will borrow even more than the $2 million diverted to the annex project.