Galesville council considers new bridge for High Cliff Park
Once a popular tourist attraction, the swinging bridge in Galesville was closed in 2016 before being washed away by a flood in 2017.
After working to reopen the trail in High Cliff Park in October, the Galesville city council is looking to continue bettering the park.
At its Thursday, Dec. 9 meeting the council discussed the possibility of hiring engineering Wisconsin company Cedar Corporation to conduct a study regarding the best location and style for a new walking bridge in the park. The previous swinging bridge was taken out by flooding in 2017, and there hasn’t been a way to connect the East and West sides of the park since.
No action was taken at the meeting, and the company was not hired.
A study by Cedar Corporation would cost the city $17,500 total, and council member Jean Wallner asked that the city look for bids from other companies as well, including some that could actually construct the bridge instead of just conduct the preliminary study such as Cedar.
The Cedar Corporation proposal would cost:
• $4,000 for a topographic survey and map.
• $6,000 for proposed trail grades and alignment.
• $7,5000 for structure investigation, cost estimates and report.
“That was nice that Cedar gave us this,” Wallner said, “but they aren’t the only company out there that can do an evaluation. So we need to reach out to other consultants and get their feedback.”
Council member Tom Thatcher said he wants the council to make sure they are prepared to do something with any information obtained because he said the last time they asked for such a study they didn’t do anything with the results because the costs were too high.
Mayor Vince Howe said the council has to talk with the Department of Natural Resources after seeing the results of the study over whether a swinging bridge is the best option for the area, also calling the cost “a big factor” in the equation. The bridge may have to move from its original position based on the proposals.
Wallner and fellow council member Linda Skwierawski have a list of other companies they plan to reach out to for bids on the project, they said at the meeting. Skwierawski said multiple options are on the table in the early stages of the topic.
“We’re in the process, and we’re trying to do it as precisely and concisely as we can. It’s tough, and we want to respect the wishes of the people in keeping something similar, but yet we also know we need to have it within a budget and a suspension bridge is kind of a compromise of both,” she said.
No decisions have been made on the type of bridge that will be constructed, and Wallner has begun looking at grant solutions as a possibility from the DNR and other organizations.
