COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Coldwater City Manager Keith Baker will be seeking guidance Monday night from the City Council on whether or not to pursue the installation of a pedestrian bridge which would replace the old US 12 bridge.
The nearly 100 year old bridge which spanned the Coldwater River on the west side of the city was removed last April after it was determined by engineers it was unsafe for pedestrians and boaters traveling underneath it.
Baker says in his letter to the Council that Mayor Tom Kramer and city staff have talked with the Michigan Department of Transportation in an effort to at least provide a temporary means for pedestrians to cross the current US 12 bridge.
The westbound lanes on US 12 leading to the bridge have been narrowed by MDOT from two lanes to one lane which gave pedestrians a wider shoulder on the north side. Improvements to the bridge itself are not scheduled for at least three years and with the speeds in the area, MDOT is not willing to make any temporary changes to the bridge.
Baker says the cost of a new pedestrian bridge as it stands now would be between $190,000 and $240,000 which would not include any contingency reserves.
