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Session 1690, Minutes March 24, 1997 82ND STREET BRIDGE PROJECT Mr. Ollendorff said that several Councilmembers have urged that this study be done and that action be taken at the earliest possible time. The City received about I00 copies of a letter and, tonight, handed another 100-150 letters. There are several hundred citizens in the northwest part of the city that want to see the 82nd Street bridge reopened. Mr. Ollendorff reported that about a year ago, a study was done on all the city bridges, and the 82nd Street bridge was deemed unsafe without putting a load limit on it. The engineer recommended further tests on the abutments because they are ninety-two years old and showing signs of decay. Before the study could be done, a run away truck, coming up Walton, took out the railings of the bridge. The city had to close it down July 23, 1996, due to it being unsafe. Discussions have taken place with Terminal Railroad, who built the bridge, about replacing it and city staff spent the last several months and about $3,000 to get an engineering study on exactly what it would take to reopen the bridge. The cost of building a new bridge would be about $275,000. At this point, the Council needs to determine whether we should move ahead, such as getting detailed engineering plans drawn up or whether or not to authorize the City Manager to negotiate with the railroad and the City of Overland to get them to pay part of costs. Mrs. Thompson said that this was a bridge that she was very interested in, because of the great concern and hardships expressed to her by the residents that have come to depend on the bridge over the years. She wanted to ask the City Manager a few questions about this project for a meeting she is setting up at Abundant Life with the residents in that area. All that she and residents have been hearing is that the bridge does not belong to University City, but to Overland and the Terminal Railroad. There is not a clear understanding as to what University City's responsibilities are in regards to the repair and ongoing maintenance of the bridge. If it is Overland's bridge, we should make sure that Overland does what they need to do to get the bridge fixed and, likewise, with the railroad. All of us need to work together and come up with a plan to push Overland along to get the bridge fixed. The bridge has been in disarray for too long and we need to move forward. The City Manager was asked to clarify the situation. The City Manager said that most of the bridge is in the City of Overland, part of it is in University City. It was built bythe railroad and it is owned by the railroad. The railroad claims that their responsibility has expired and that they do not own it forever and that they are not going to pay for it any longer. They did indicate they would be willing to pay an undeterminate part of the cost to get out from owning the bridge. Mr. Ollendorff said that Overland had no interest in reopening the bridge since they had one home on Walton and they did not care whether that resident comes over the bridge or not. Maybe with the help of the Council and the Mayor, the City could possibly approach Overland to try to talk them into something. Mr. Ollendorffstated that he had to have authorization and support from the Council to start negotiation. To get the bridge open, temporary repairs could be made, which would cost in the neighborhood of $20,000 - $25,000, which could happen in a couple of months. This work would entail patching the deck and replacing the railings, but it would not have a lasting effect. Three to five years down the road, the abutments will be in such bad shape that the bridge will have to be closed again and rebuilding it would have to be revisited. The City Manager felt that rather than spending $25,000 now, that the City should to arrange the financing needed to build a new bridge and get it over with. The Council could decide that they would rather spend what we have to nowto get it open now and worry about rebuilding it in a couple of years. Mr. Ueberman said that he had spoke with the St. Louis County Department of Transportation, and they looked into whether or not they could assist University City in doing something with the bridge and getting it back into operating condition. They determined that it wasn't part of the county arterial road system and therefore could not help us. The federal government is accepting applications for federal assistance on bridges exactly like this, however, that federal assistance, if approved, would not come until about 200 I. Possibly temporary relief could take us to that point, so that the government could come in and give us a little assistance. He felt that Overland had to be addressed and that the City needed to try to get them to pay some of the costs associated with rebuilding the bridge. Mr. Ollendorffsaid that yes, federal aid, is an option; however there are three problems with going this route. Federal aid would pay 8096 of the total cost to rebuild the bridge. Financially, it would be good to go with federal aid. The three