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Five
entities agree: Bypass bridge
decisions; the road must go on
Elkhart
blacktop and historic bridge discussed
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[JUNE
6,
2006]
Another
road season is here and the project
that has topped the Logan County
Highway Department list for several
years was still not scheduled. County
highway 10, the Elkhart-Mount Pulaski
blacktop, has come overdue for
repairs. The holdup: what to do with
the historic Elkhart bridge that the
roadway runs under.
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| Ownership
and liability for the bridge was put
to question early in 2005. The
county's road and bridge committee had
Tom Hickman, then the highway
department engineer, send a letter to
the village of Elkhart asking them to
take ownership or find someone else
who could. The bridge was going to be
destroyed in order to make the roadway
wider and safer.
With no answers yet, the matter was
pressed again last month with another
letter sent to Elkhart from the
highway department. The village of
Elkhart met last week and rejected
ownership. The board was split on the
matter: half for saving it for its
historic value and charm; half seeing
it as a traffic hazard.
In the meantime, local historical
preservationists also set to work to
get the bridge attention and possibly
find funding to alleviate traffic
hazards and maintain it.
The county's road and bridge
committee and representatives of the
Logan County Highway Department,
Elkhart Historical Society, Abraham
Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County
and the Illinois Department of
Transportation reviewed the status of
the road and the bridge on Monday
evening.
County engineer Bret Aukamp just
received a letter from the Illinois
Historic Preservation Agency asking
the county to "hold off"
action against the bridge as they look
into possible funding.
Geoff Ladd and Gillette Ransom of
the Elkhart Historical Society said
that the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency and Illinois
Department of Transportation have
agreed to help with the issue. Ladd
and Ransom will be staying in close
contact with those entities to keep it
moving.
Ransom said that she will also be
contacting another supportive agency
that could help find funding. The
Landmark Preservation Council of
Illinois named the Gillett Memorial
Arch as one of the "Ten Most
Endangered Historic Places in
Illinois" in 2005.
The walk-over bridge not only
creates a scenic sensation, but it is
most highly valued for its links to
Logan County's founding fathers and
most well-known former citizens,
including Gov. Richard J. Oglesby,
John Logan and President Abraham
Lincoln.
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However, it creates several
problems. When it was built in 1915,
slower and narrower horses and buggies
passed under it. The roadbed from
either side peaks under the center.
The narrowness and limited vision to
see oncoming traffic now create a
traffic hazard.
The historical society looked into
assuming liability for the structure,
but the latest insurance quote was
$3,700 a year. This was much lower
than a previous quote.
In the meantime, it was agreed by
all present that the road has reached
such a state of deterioration as to
becoming "a hazard itself"
as committeeman Dale Voyles said.
"People traveling that roadway
have a right to expect it to be safe
to travel," he said.
While it is late in the season to
be letting out bids, it was decided to
go ahead with the road improvements
without addressing the bridge.
Aukamp was asked if it could still
get done for this year.
He responded that it may not be
done for the start of the school year
but definitely can be done this year.
Voyles summed up the county's
commitment: "We'd like to come up
with a solution that will stand the
test of time." He added that it
be noted that we're all working
together to find a solution.
Several ideas have been developed
that would address these hazards.
Raising the roadbed on both sides
would reduce or eliminate the
visibility issue.
Adding caution signal lights in
advance of the bridge would create
driver awareness.
[See Geoff Ladd
statement on Elkhart bridge, June
5.]
[Jan
Youngquist]
Related
past article
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| Over
the past month, several avenues were
explored to solve once and for all the
ownership, responsibility and safety
issues surrounding the Elkhart
bridge (John P. Gillett Memorial
Bridge in Elkhart).
The Elkhart Historical Society
investigated working with the village
of Elkhart to solve this issue. We
also looked at a less expensive
insurance policy that the society
could take on for the bridge, and
indeed we did get a new quote in the
$3,700-a-year range.
However, while these local efforts
were going on, the state of Illinois
reinvigorated their investigation of
this issue as well, and as of June 5
they have asked the historical society
to hold off on privately insuring the
bridge until perhaps a more
comprehensive long-term preservation
solution can be found for this unique
structure.
Indeed, the state of Illinois,
through the offices of Illinois
Department of Transportation and
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency,
has made it clear that this bridge is
"protected." It is in the
process of being added to the National
Register of Historic Places, and
because of that and other protections
afforded to this historic structure,
any alteration or removal plans would
first have to go through a review
process by the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency.
It is our conclusion, therefore,
that the bridge is here to stay, and
that now is the time for officials on
a local, state and perhaps even a
federal level to all work together to
find the best long-term solution for
the preservation of the bridge and
that we all work together to implement
whatever is needed to make the road
underneath as safe as possible,
including regular maintenance, road
repairs, possible re-engineering of
the road underneath and perhaps
installation of signal lights within
one-fourth mile of each entrance to
the underpass.
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It is critical that the Illinois
Department of Transportation, Illinois
Historic Preservation Agency, Landmark
Preservation Council, Elkhart
Historical Society and Logan County
Highway Department continue a process
of working together for a final
solution that will offer the best
protection for the future of this
bridge -- a structure that may well
outlive all of us who have been
involved on one side or the other of
this debate. I am urging that we now
all work together to reach a solution
-- a solution that we are convinced
must involve long-term ownership and
preservation.
We would like to thank all the
entities that have been working with
us and that are continuing to help us
with this issue.
On a side note -- those of you who
are interested in seeing this historic
structure should make plans to come to
Elkhart this weekend for their
all-town open house celebration, June
10 and 11. [Article]
[Geoff Ladd]
Geoff Ladd is the executive
director of Abraham
Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County,
and he also serves on the board of
directors of the Elkhart Historical
Society.
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