Fox Point Board to Consider Footbridge Survey Tuesday

After many residents have expressed strong feelings, both for and against, work on the Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge, the Village Board will talk about including a survey in the Fall Village Newsletter.

The Fox Point Footbridge saga continues Monday when the Village Board will chat about possibly including a survey in the fall, village-wide newsletter.  The Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge connects Bridge Lane and Barnett Lane, spanning a deep ravine, and that bridge has been closed since October 2010.  Residents Larry Booth and Bob Cory have asked the board repeatedly to consider posing a referendum question on election ballots to gauge the level of support for taxpayer money funding the project. Both men are not in favor of building a new bridge, as Booth called it "The $1.1 Million Bridge to Nowhere" in one of his Letter's to the Editor.  "We need this to be on an informational flier to all residents (like the crime report sent out) and…

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Sarah Worthman

9:45 pm on Sunday, September 9, 2012

Thanks for your comments everyone. Will any of you be attending the meeting Tuesday?   more ›

Letter to the Editor

Fox Point Resident Questions High Cost of Fox Point Footbridge

Bob Cory compares the Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge project, with projects around $1 million, to a similar pedestrian footbridge installed at Riverside High School for just $185,000.

Recently a pedestrian bridge was ordered, assembled and erected in Milwaukee near the Riverside High School. This bridge was assembled and erected in one week and it took aprox. ninety minutes to install. The assembly and erection was accomplished by three men at a  total cost of $185,000. The Village of Fox Point is “researching” a pedestrian bridge to replace an aging bridge known as the Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge. The “research” has been ongoing now for over a year and after spending tens of thousands of dollars on consultants – they are awaiting the results of the third such study at a cost of $17,500. Just about a year ago, the village arranged financing for this as yet to be approved obscure capitol project to the tune of …

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Fox Point Village Board Authorizes Planning for Replacement Footbridge

Ayers will design a brand new bridge in accordance with specifications from Village President Michael West, however, construction will not begin just yet.

Fox Point Village Board members voted Tuesday to have consultant Ayers Associates design a brand new bridge to replace the old Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge in accordance with specifications laid out by President Michael West. "Don’t forget, we are not committed to building a bridge," West said. Tuesday's decision does not tie the board to constructing anything that the consultant, Ayers Associates, creates. However, it does set the board on that path, as they utilize the allocated $37,773 contract with Ayers to plan a replacement bridge rather than repair or removal. Trustee Beverly Bell suggested modifying West's proposal to request Ayers also look into repair options, but other trustees voted it down. "If we take your motion, it is …

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Letter to the Editor

Fox Point’s $1.1 Million “Footbridge to Nowhere”

Fox Point resident, Larry Booth, gives his two-cents on the controversial Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge.

At the same time the Village of Fox Point is talking about cutting back on essential services and infrastructure, the Village Board has authorized spending up to $1.1 million of taxpayer money to rebuild an unused and unneeded FOOTBRIDGE. That $1.1 million price tag was 44 percent of the village’s ENTIRE 2012 capital budget. In other words, the board authorized spending nearly as much on a single footbridge as it has on all of the critical road, sanitary sewer and stormwater improvement projects in the village. That enormous price tag is not the only problem with this project: And the $1.1 million is not the only cost to taxpayers. The village is paying two engineering firms $142,000 to develop proposals for the footbridge. Taxpayers are …

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Frustration Grows Over Lack of Progress on Footbridge

Residents wonder why Fox Point officials haven't taken action yet.

Thunderous applause roared through the Fox Point Village Hall Tuesday night after a tearful Cissy Bryson, who lives near the Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge, talked about how a year without that bridge has been not only painful for her but many others as well. "That beautiful walk has been closed for a year and here we are the peak of the fall color and we can’t cross that bridge," Bryson said. "There is no reason for that bridge to be closed." The bridge between Barnett Lane and Bridge Lane has been closed since last October. At that time, Ayers, an engineering firm hired by the village, had done an inspection looking into the load capacity and safety of the bridge. Ayers said the number of people on the bridge at one time should not exceed…

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Dave Koven

12:25 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011

The village is not so large that almost anyone in the village could not walk, bike, or be driven to the bridge so that they could appreciate this unique beauty spot. It is not just for the benefit of the immediate neighbors to this site. Dave Koven   more ›