A concept visual for the alternate pillar concept for the Southbridge corridor project. Trapezoid concrete pillars with no bleaching. (Courtesy: City of De Pere)
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The De Pere Common Council shared opinions Tuesday night on how the yet to be named southern bridge in Brown County could look.
It’s set to cross over the Fox River as an extension to Southbridge Road, and will include nine concrete support pillars.
Alderperson Amy Chandik Kundinger shared her thoughts, saying, “With a project that we already know is going to have additional cost, why would we want to entertain really anything that aesthetically doesn’t really change it all that much?”
Brown County presented three designs to the council.
One included concrete bleaching, and two options with trapezoid-shaped pillars.
The additional cost of altering the design ranging from $450,000 dollars to $1.4 million.
Alderperson Jonathon Hansen spoke against the expensive columns, saying, “The trapezoidal columns, they don’t provide any additional support, right? It’s just purely the shape aesthetic. I just didn’t feel that was worth 900-some-thousand just for a slightly different shape.”
The board chose the first of the three proposed options – opting for regular rectangular pillars, and concrete bleaching.
As a result, an additional $450,000 dollars will be added to the cost of the project, the lowest of the three options.
Alderperson Dan Carpenter spoke on the effectiveness of the changes. He said, “If you don’t use the recreation of the water, it means nothing to you. If other people use the recreation they’ll see it, say boy that looks nice, or maybe, whatever. Does it add anything to the bridge? No. Structurally? Nothing.”
The bridge project has an estimated price tag of $50 million – which is funded by a state grant.
The Common Council has roughly $8 million of that for design purposes. Any excess funds from the $50 million grant will go towards funding a bridge over the railroad on the west side of the river.
Scott Thorsen, Director of the De Pere Department of Public Works says said the discussions aren’t over yet. “The county now has to reconsider some of those options, because their county board, or I believe their transportation committee did have some preferred alternatives. Some of the recommendations from our council are not exactly what the county is, so there will be some more discussion to move forward.”
The next step is for the Council to bring their recommendations to the Brown County Board for final approval.
Brown County and the City of De Pere will split the cost of the additions 50/50.
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