Published: July 16, 2008 05:26 pm         

Historic bridge eyed for Ford Road

Lebanon — Admitting that $274,000 in taxpayer money has floated down Eagle Creek, the Boone County Commissioners are reconsidering a replacement for the 36-year-old Ford Road bridge.

An 80-year-old iron bridge carrying State Road 44 over a river at Shelbyville could be moved to Ford Road, Commissioner Marc Applegate told the Boone County Council Tuesday, July 8.

“It would be aesthetically pleasing to Zionsville,” Applegate said.

The council approved spending $250,000 for a new engineering study, although there is no guarantee the historic bridge will be approved by the Indiana Department of Transportation.

The iron bridge must pass hydrology tests. INDOT must also approve a waiver because the iron bridge is narrower than state regulations allow.

The structure is a “historic” through-truss iron bridge, County Highway Superintendent Tom Kouns told the council.

Kouns does not believe the iron bridge is adequate for the 7,500 vehicles that daily use Ford Road.

Councilman Jeff Heck asked Kouns if using the iron bridge made sense.

Kouns hesitated and said, “To me, no.” One of his concerns is maintenance costs for the iron bridge.

Heck was the only council member voting against funding the new engineering study.

When Councilman Butch Smith asked Kouns why Shelby County wanted to discard the iron bridge, and why Boone County wanted it, Kouns replied, “That’s a good question; that’s a question that should be directed to people above me.”

Kouns is appointed by the Boone County Commissioners.

Council president Steve Jacob said he thought the iron bridge was “inadequate” for S.R. 44’s traffic volume, but it would be suitable for Ford Road.

“If you want my flat recommendation on this,” Kouns told the council, “let’s see if it will work; we won’t know until this engineering firm gets plans to INDOT.”

Commissioner Huck Lewis said he will support the iron bridge only if it passes hydrology tests and saves money.

A $5 million replacement of the existing concrete bridge floundered after strident opposition from citizen groups and area residents. A “tunnel of trees” along 96th Street would have been removed to make way for the new bridge’s southern approach and to replace a 90-degree curve.

Repair or replacement of the Ford Road bridge has been considered since 1995. In late 2002 and early 2003, the commissioners spent $274,000 for engineering studies on a new structure. They approved a new bridge in January 2003, but construction never started.

The $274,000 “is money down the drain,” Kouns said.

No cost estimate for the iron bridge project is possible until engineering studies are finished, Kouns said.

Applegate said they hoped using the iron bridge would save taxpayers $1.5 million.

In August 1999, Jim Strickland, a founder of a group called Citizens for the Preservation of Rural Roads and Scenic Byways, complained that a new bridge would destroy “one of the most scenic country roads in the state of Indiana.”

Kouns said most of the public’s concerns about a new bridge “should be eliminated” with the latest proposal.

There are an estimated 127 trees lining 96th Street, south and east of the current bridge. Many, if not all, would have been chopped down to make room for a wider curve that would meet federal standards.

The right-angle turn would not be changed if the iron bridge were used, Kouns said. The intersection of Ford Road and County Road 800 South, just north of the existing bridge, would have to be moved.

     

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