Decision made on Sixth Street bridge plans
Photo by JOSH McDONALD This temporary bridge has ran over top the existing Sixth Street bridge since load restrictions were put on the structure in the spring of 2018. The Wallace City Council recently approved plans for a new bridge, but are waiting on funding.
WALLACE — For close to two years, the Sixth Street bridge in Wallace has been under weight restrictions. In that time, the city along with engineering firm, HMH Engineering, has been working to figure out a plan that works best for everyone.
During their monthly city council meeting last week, the Wallace City Council approved one of three presented options to begin moving forward with the project.
HMH presented them with three plans, named Alternative 1, Alternative 2 and Alternative 3, each came with its own pros and cons, but the city ultimately landed on Alternative 3, which was the cheapest option at $1.53 million.
“It’s the best option because it’s both less expensive and provides the most fixes,” Councilwoman Heather Branstetter said before the vote.
With their chosen alternative, the city will be able to avoid the need for two culverts where Nine Mile Creek and Printer’s Creek converge into the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River.
Initially, there were hopes that construction would be set to begin during the fall of this year, but as of now, the city of Wallace is still waiting on the funding for the project.
According to GE Siegford, HMH’s project manager for this project, the expected funding is administered through the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council in accordance with the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.
Siegford also discussed how the project is still in the preliminary stages while they wait for those funds to come in, but once it does come in, there will be no reason why the project can’t start as soon as possible.
Once they do begin physical construction, it should take roughly three months for the project to be completed.
In the interim, the current setup with the temporary bridge for larger loads, as well as the adjacent two lanes for traveling up and down Nine Mile Road, will continue to be in use.