Big news for 6th Street Bridge

WALLACE –— It’s a good news/bad news situation for Wallace’s 6th Street Bridge, or at least that was the way it was presented to the Wallace City Council last week.

The bridge, which allows access from downtown Wallace to Ninemile Canyon and Dobson Pass, has been under weight restrictions for nearly five years — and has been the home of a temporary bridge over the top of it for almost four.

Over the years, several plans have been made to repair the bridge, but for whatever reason (busy construction seasons, funding opportunities, a global pandemic) the project date has never stuck.

The good news is, the Idaho Department of Transportation (IDT) and the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) said they could have the bridge built in the coming year.

The project is expected to cost around $1.8 million, but due to different matching programs from the state and federal governments as well as other entities — but by the project’s end, Wallace may actually pocket some money.

The bad news, however, is that it’s going to require some upfront costs to the city that they weren’t planning for.

According to city engineer Jim Roletto, after all of those different grants, matches and other funds — Wallace was looking at a $12,000 bill on a $1.8 million project.

Due to some missed timing, one of the pots of money they were expecting to utilize to get down to this $12,000, dried up — leaving a remaining balance to the city of roughly $54,000 (give or take a few dollars).

In order to get the project moving, that $54,000 needs to be paid upfront before any of the work will begin.

Remember, that’s the bad news.

To revisit the good news part of this, Roletto explained how the city might be in a position to pony up the upfront costs, and still come out ahead.

“We have a bridge out there right now, and we’re going to use it during the construction,” Roletto explained about the current temporary structure. “We’ve found a buyer for that bridge — Shoshone County will buy that bridge because there’s a bridge project going on in Shoshone County and they’re probably going to use that bridge on Bullion Creek.”

As part of Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s Leading Idaho plan, several bridge projects have been chosen to receive full funding — including the aforementioned Bullion Creek project in the Moon Pass region of Shoshone County.

“LHTAC, the group funding this project (with the county), very much hopes you guys move forward with this and is going to guarantee that payment through Shoshone,” Roletto told the council.

Roletto anticipates that the city could make at least $75,000 by selling the county the temporary bridge — but believes that the amount could be even higher as the prices on everything right now continue to rise.

“$75,000 is a low estimate by me,” Roletto said. “I bid on a bridge down in Benewah County (recently) similar to this one that went for $110,000. Ours is a couple of years old.”

Should the market value continue to rise, the city could ask for a larger number and if an agreement is struck then LHTAC has committed to covering the bill.

The city has already committed $7,000 to the project, so they’ll need the other $47,000 to get the project rolling.

Once that check is in the proper hands, the project will go out for bid.

Roletto had made a prior commitment to Wallace Mayor Lynn Mogensen that the bridge would cost the city nothing, and if they sell off the temporary bridge — not only would he have kept good on his promise, but the city would’ve made some money.

“We’re in a pretty good spot here,” Roletto said.

Following Roletto’s presentation, the council made a motion to move forward with the project under the provision that it gets completed next year.

Roletto anticipates that if the project gets put up for bid next month, there is a strong possibility that the project can begin in the spring of 2023 (weather permitting).

Once the project is completed, the temporary bridge can be sold.