Barring a change of heart by the Bridgeport City Council, there will be a new section of roadway within the municipal limits in the very near future. And for those that will take advantage of it, they know it’s much needed.

 

During a recent work session of Council, the city’s governing body went over a number of items that will be funded with carryover (fund balance) dollars – revenue over and above what was projected – from the past fiscal year. Among those projects was several thousand dollars for a new paved portion of roadway that will benefit the Benedum Civic Center.

 

The area in question will see the portion of grassed area beside the Civic Center’s parking lot that already allows vehicles to travel through it for maintenance work, events and to occasionally drop off elderly or disabled individuals to the back of the building. After years of usage for those purposes, the ground is becoming a problem.

 

“I’ve seen groups, many times our seniors who serve on civic groups, getting out of vehicles back there and just get covered in mud,” City Manager Kim Haws said during a recent meeting. “It will do more than fix that problem, but it’s something that needs addressed.”

 

Council offered no resistance to the recommendation for the roadway. What that means is that with  the exception of a change of heart, funds will be allocated to install the new asphalt roadway at the July 28 meeting of City Council.

 

“We hope that it happens because in the last several years that area has been getting much worse,” said Parks and Recreation Director Don Burton. “Any time it rains and people drive back there you have ruts and mud and it just takes longer and longer for the mud to clear up. It’s an ongoing issue that we’ve been fighting for some time.”

 

The road will be 160 feet long by 10 feet wide. It will begin where there is  an opening between the retaining wall and go all the way back to the earth ramp  that leads into the Bridgeport City Pool. Council member Diana Marra suggested – and Council concured  - that another project to replace and repair the crumbling retaining wall be combined into one project. 

 

“A road will help tremendously with the loading and unloading that takes place back there and if we have to bring in large equipment to do work at the pool it also will help,” Burton said. “We also believe for the seniors that go there to be dropped off as it’s often the closest entrance for events they attend, that it will remove a big concern for them.”

 

Burton said the project will likely run between $10,000 and $20,000, but has to be bid out. Another portion of the project, if it proceeds, would be the replacement of a sewer line in the area where the new paving would cross.

 

“It’s an older sewer line exiting the Civic Center that goes to the main sewer line along Simpson Creek,” said Burton. “The plan is to do that work with city staff.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the water that accumulates and sits - often for days - after rain to the back entrance of the Civic Center, while the bottom picture shows Don Burton at the top of the earth ramp where the new roadway will end.