Decorah City Council selects Trout Run Trail bridge

It took awhile, but the Decorah City Council on Monday night selected a design for the bridge crossing Highway 9 on the Trout run Trail.

An hour-long Street Committee meeting before the city council meeting failed to produce a clear-cut preference in bridge designs and the city council itself vacillated between two designs before selecting the $1.4 million concrete bridge.

Street Committee Chair Gary Rustad emphasized that the approval of the Milwaukee bridge design hinges on the city getting a grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation that would help pay for the cost of the bridge.  If the grant is not received, the issue of the bridge will be revisited, Rustad promised.

City Engineer Lindsay Erdman says a decision by the state on the bridge funding ought to be made by October of this year.  That might mean construction of the bridge wouldn't begin until May or June of 2011, with completion possibility not happening until late 2011 or early 2012.

Because of other sources of funding, the City of Decorah needs $805,000 of funding to complete the bridge project.  City officials are hoping the DOT grant will cover much of that amount, although City Administrator Jerry Freund said the city could use General Obligation Bonds to raise the money.