Published: August 29, 2008 08:37 am      

Belle Rive seeks bridge help from railroad

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

BELLE RIVE — Mayor Donnie Wilkey and the Belle Rive Village Board have taken on Illinois Central Railroad in an effort to get at least one of the three railroad bridges that connect the east and west portions of town rebuilt.

“Our big problem is we have a contract with the railroad dating from back in 1925, that when the railroad came through here, it would put four bridges in and maintain them,” Wilkey said. “The railroad has backed out on their agreement now. ... They won’t replace the bridges anymore.”

Wilkey said he and other members of the board became concerned about the bridges — or lack thereof — about two years ago, when a traffic accident on Route 142 blocked traffic for hours and “cut off” the two sections of town.

“It split up our town,” Wilkey said. “Cars were backed up all the day to Dahlgren while semis and everyone just had to wait until we cleaned up the highway. ... If we have a fire or something and the highway bridge is blocked or goes down, basically we’re out of luck. We can’t respond. Also, the school bus has problems since they closed the bridges. It has to detour around, go around some hazardous crossings and the school’s not happy with that. Basically, it’s become a problem.”

Wilkey and members of the village board addressed the Jefferson County Highway Committee last week, asking for federal Bridge Rehabilitation and Replacement funds to replace at least one of the bridges. County Engineer Steve Schnake told the Belle Rive residents that BRPP funds have been committed for other projects for the next three years, and the cost to build one bridge in the village would exceed $500,000 to $600,000, and that several stipulations from the railroad would have to be met by the village before consideration would be given to the project.

Schnake said when bridge projects are needed, the project first goes to the highway department for funding. Bridges in need of repair, replacement and rehabilitation are prioritized based on need, then the Highway Committee and the Jefferson County Board either approve the projects, move the project further down the list or reject the project.

“I think right now, they want to see what the railroad is going to do,” Schnake said. “I understand Belle Rive is working with the railroad to try to make a deal to replace a bridge and get money out of them. Our board wants to see, first, what the railroad is going to do before they do anything. No use dedicating funds if you don’t know how much. The railroad has to move on it.”

Schnake said federal BRPP funds which are distributed to each county is determined by a formula, and in Illinois Department of Transportation District 9, the formula is based on the square feet of bridges located in the county. BRPP funds and the Township Bridge Fund is administered by the county.

“We usually get $190,00 per year for the township bridges, and BRPP comes in at $330,000 per year,” Schnake said. “Of all the counties in District 9, we receive the most BRPP money because of the number of bridges we have. When we were part of District 7, the formula was different. Each district has a different formula. We got a nice increase when we were transferred from District 7 to 9. It went from about $220,000 to $330,000 per year.”

Wilkey said he is trying to find out how much the residents of Belle Rive have contributed to BRPP funds over the years.

“We’ve paid on our bridges ever since they’ve been in existence,” Wilkey said. “We want a return on that to get our bridges put back in. ... I’m working to see how much we’ve put into the BRPP fund over the years. I don’t know it now, but we’re working on that.”

Wilkey said lawyers for the railroad have said they will not be upholding the 1925 contract.

“They just told us they’re not building a bridge, and don’t feel responsible for the contract because it was made in ‘25,” Wilkey said.

“What do we do? What’s the answer? We’re entitled to it, and we’re entitled to BRPP money. The residents have paid into it. I want to keep them as safe as possible.”