The Ray Nitschke Memorial Bridge in downtown Green Bay on June 14, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Ray Nitschke Memorial Bridge in downtown Green Bay doesn’t exactly have the best reputation, but that will hopefully change as it appears the state will be chipping in $1.2 million to help repair the bridge in phases.
“Every six months, it seems that it’s closed,” said State Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay. “Everyone has an alteration in their daily plans.”
In 2019, it was found that the bridge was stuck in the open position eight times in a three-and-a-half-year stretch. An updated check only found one instance, which was last month, since 2020.
“What is normally viewed from the public as a bridge failure is actually not a failure,” said Steve Grenier, Green Bay’s public works director. “The bridge is operating exactly as it’s designed. There’s enough sensors out there that if it detects something that is out of the ordinary, it will shut itself down rather than causing damage to itself.”
Grenier says issues with the bridge have decreased since replacing a hydraulic motor and should continue to decline as more work is done. He says four need to be replaced along with four pumps.
$1.2 million that is expected to be included in the ’23-’25 state budget will go towards the repairs. The Joint Finance Committee approved the spending on Tuesday and Gov. Tony Evers said in February it is time for the work to be done.
“It’s not that the bridge is imminently in danger of failure, but the hydraulic components of the bridge are 25 years old,” said Grenier. “They are starting to show some wear.”
Grenier says the city is taking a phased approach with the bridge repairs. He says the first phase of work was completed about a year ago and kept the bridge closed a week or two.
“It’s not like we’re going to be knocking a bridge out of service for several months or anything like that,” said Grenier. “By going at it with a phased approach, we have to close the bridge and we’ve got to do it during non-boating times.”
The city has been trying to get this funding for four or five years.
Wimberger, who sits on the powerful Joint Finance Committee, says the timing is right because getting the money in a stand-alone bill carries a federal requirement to invest 80% of the project’s cost into education.
“So, a $1.2 million bridge project turns to be over a $2 million bridge project if you do it outside the budget cycle,” said Wimberger. “So, it was important to do it this time of year.”
It is estimated the bridge is opened 400 times per year, according to Brown County officials who oversee opening Green Bay’s three downtown bridges.
The Nitschke Bridge also averages 15,600 vehicles per day. The Don Tillman Memorial Bridge (Mason Street) averages 34,200, and the Bart Starr Memorial Bridge (Walnut Street) averages 11,100.
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