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News
Tea Party remarks disturbed park board president : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisTea Party remarks disturbed park board president
| Mattingly: Old Rt. Route 34 bridge was donated to park district
| by Lyle R. Rolfe
| 4/30/2009
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Oswegoland Park Board President Bob Mattingly expressed disappointment this past week over statements made about the park district by one of the speakers at the Tax Day Tea Party rally held on April 15 in Oswego.
"He did not have his facts straight and I was disturbed by that. He made the comment that 'The bridge we are standing on is one of the most costly projects undertaken by the Oswegoland Park District,'" Mattingly said of the speaker.
The speaker was addressing a crowd of several hundred people at the event held on the pedestrian bridge on the Fox River south of Hudson Crossing Park in downtown Oswego.
The pedestrian bridge is just north of the newer Route 34 (Washington Street) vehicular bridge.
Mattingly said he asked park district officials to check the history of the bridge so he could present the truth at the next board meeting which was held last Thursday.
He said the historical record showed the pedestrian bridge was built in 1867 of steel and concrete set on piers made of locally cut limestone blocks.
"The bridge served its purpose well for 123 years until it was replaced in 1994 by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) with a new four-lane bridge to handle the increased traffic," he said.
Demolition of the old bridge was estimated by IDOT to cost $40,000, Mattingly said.
"Park board members had the wisdom and foresight to ask if it could be given to the district for use as a pedestrian and bike bridge for safety of people wanting to cross the river," Mattingly said. The vehicular bridge has a narrow sidewalk on only one side.
He said IDOT gave the bridge to the Village of Oswego which then gave it to the park district with the agreement that the park district would assume future maintenance, insurance and necessary safety improvements.
"Bridge improvements such as repairs, resurfacing, landscaping and bollards were paid for by IDOT in lieu of demolition costs," Mattingly said.
"The park district paid $9,522 for lights. The Village of Oswego agreed to pay for the cost of electricity to light the bridge for ten years with an option for extension," he added.
"I think we did pretty good and I just wanted to refute the resident's comment that 'this was one of our most costly projects.' In this case I think we actually saved the taxpayers money," Mattingly said.
On Sept. 8, 1994 , then Governor Jim Edgar, IDOT officials, village, and park district officials joined residents for the official dedication of the new bridge and reopening of the updated pedestrian-bike bridge under park district ownership, he said.
"Today Hudson Crossing Park along the Fox River in downtown Oswego is developed and serves as the trailhead to the Fox River Bike Trail extending north to Kane and DuPage counties. The preserved and renovated historic bridge gives hikers and bikers a safe and scenic place to cross the river.
"As an aging bridge ended one useful life, a new chapter opened allowing the bridge to continue paying dividends to its owners--the taxpayers--for years to come.
"I hope this sets the record straight," Mattingly said.
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