The plot thickens concerning the reconstruction of the West Main Street Bridge.
Jim Pike, the bridge engineer for Franklin County, told Westerville city council members that Otterbein was unwilling to enter into a financial partnership to help pay for construction of a temporary walkway.
The walkway would keep the bridge open to pedestrians during construction and cost roughly $250,000-$300,000 to construct.
"At this point [Otterbein College] could not be a financial participant," Pike said.
Both Otterbein administration and community responses are putting pressure on the county to keep the bridge accessible to pedestrians throughout construction. Twenty-five of 36 community responses said there should be access across the river at all times.
"In talking to the representatives from Otterbein College ... certainly one of their big concerns is student access during construction," said council member Terry Winebrenner.
Bob Gatti, dean of Student Affairs, said another concern of the college is responsible allocation of tuition money. "The college has limited resources, which come from your tuition money. We need to determine the best way to spend those resources," he said.
Gatti also felt it was inappropriate of the county to ask the college to use students' tuition money to pay for the walkway, especially since the student body would be inconvenienced by the construction. He recalled a similar situation during the construction of Lane Street Bridge, which was disruptive to Ohio State University students. No cash was exchanged between the county and the university, and a walkway was kept open for students.
Pike told the council that the offer from the county was made in good faith. "We tried to make them a pretty good deal," he said.
The situation on Main Street is a little different because of the limited amount of space available. The road is narrow, so construction is occurring in what Pike termed a "tight space." In the 1970 construction, a one-way road was kept open for vehicular use, but that option isn't feasible in this decade.
One other option brought up at the Monday work session was constructing a temporary walkway and then salvaging parts of it for use in the permanent walkway to go with the Otterbein Lake project.
A permanent walkway structure is part of the project to spruce up Otterbein Lake. Reusing the materials from the temporary walkway might make the expenditure more reasonable.
Gatti didn't seem to think that the option to salvage the walkway for more permanent use would make a difference regarding the college's unwillingness to contribute financially, but he didn't completely dismiss the option. "Never say never," he said.
All in all, the county is excited about the new bridge, despite community concerns about pedestrian access.
"If you know our history of Franklin County, we like to do interesting bridges ... we think this bridge on West Main Street presents that opportunity," Pike said.
