By Anne Trautner
The Town of Sharon plans to repair a bridge on Peters Road that has a 5-ton weight limit, but is waiting to hear the best way to go about opening the bridge to all traffic.
Town Board Chairman Rich Brandl met with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources representatives on Aug. 21 to determine the town’s options to fix the bridge, which crosses a creek.
“Because that is a wetland area on both sides there, they are not going to allow us to put a culvert in, so we pretty much have to stay in the same footprint as the bridge that is there,” Brandl said.
Brandl had been hoping that the DNR would permit a culvert because that would eliminate future problems with the bridge.
Brandl is now waiting to hear back from R.H. Batterman & Co., Inc., an engineering firm in Beloit that is working on the project.
“Batterman is waiting to hear from the company that did the temporary fix for Fontana. They were going to come out and look at the bridge and see what ideas they could come up with,” Brandl said. “I’m pretty confident that if we can’t get a permanent fix, we can get a temporary one to get us through the winter anyway.”
The state bridge inspector placed a 5-ton weight limit on the bridge on Aug. 15 after it was deemed unsafe because wood pilings under the bridge are failing.
It is the second bridge on Peters Road that has been closed. A bridge to the north that crosses the Wisconsin Southern Railroad tracks was closed July 24.
There is one home that is landlocked between the two bridges. There are also crops growing on both sides of the road between the two bridges. Because of the weight limit, farmers are unable to bring tractors to crops.
The Town of Sharon does not have any money set aside for bridge repairs. Until the town decides on a plan, the cost of repairing the bridge is unknown.
In preparation, Brandl has contacted Rep. Amy Loudenbeck about getting emergency funds. If the town does not qualify, it will have to borrow the money, Brandl said.
It would cost $800,000 to replace the northern bridge, which is owned by the Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission, along with the state of Wisconsin. Earlier this year, the town was ineligible to receive federal funding for that bridge project. The town plans to apply for federal funding for it again in January.
