Bridge's fate tilts toward demolition

Washington County commissioners Tuesday voted for the emergency removal of the historic but crumbling Rock Island Swing Bridge.

"This structure is very far gone and much of it is beyond repair," Wayne Sandberg, county assistant engineer, told commissioners.

Their 5-0 vote means that Washington County now will work with Dakota County for complete removal of the bridge from the Mississippi River unless someone comes forward with money to save a portion of it for pedestrian, fishing or other recreational uses.

The National Park Service wants to preserve the west portion of the bridge as a part of the Mississippi River Regional Trail or as a lookout, and has been working with the counties toward that end. The bridge is within the 72-mile Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

"It's not over yet," said Denise Niedzolkowski, an NPS spokeswoman in St. Paul.

Engineers from Washington and Dakota counties say that unless the NPS finds money for preservation, demolition could begin by March. The counties inherited the bridge as tax-forfeited property in 1999, when vehicle traffic ended, and see it as a liability.

The bridge spans the river between Inver Grove Heights to the west and St. Paul Park to the east.

"To me this is a public safety issue. It is nothing else," said Commissioner Myra Peterson, who criticized the NPS for conducting a public open house in October to promote the bridge's recreation potential. She said the NPS put people in danger by doing so.

But Niedzolkowski said that Dakota County gave the NPS "full permission and authority" to conduct the tour. "We had strict safety policies," she said.

In a Nov. 26 letter to Washington County, the state engineer, Daniel Dorgan, recommended "complete removal" of the bridge.

Washington County has responsibility for the east span and the swing portion in the middle, which is locked open to allow barges to pass. Dakota County has the west span, which is the part the NPS wants to preserve.

Sandberg told Washington County commissioners Tuesday that complete removal of the bridge would cost between $2.5 million and $5.5 million. If commissioners approve a joint powers agreement Jan. 6, he said, the county would seek bids to demolish the bridge. Dakota County commissioners are expected to take action later in January.

Board chairman Dennis Hegberg, compared the debate over the bridge to the long-running dispute over the Stillwater Lift Bridge and said he hoped the fate of the swing bridge could be resolved soon.

"This is an example where the taxpayers get a little upset that we're chasing our tails," he said.