Village of Hinsdale Seeks Public Input on Oak Street Bridge Replacement

The Village of Hinsdale wants to hear the opinion of residents on a replacement for the 125-year-old bridge that crosses the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks at Oak Street, next to Adventist Hinsdale Hospital. The first step in gathering that input will be a public meeting at 7 p.m.(Thursday) in Memorial Hall.

“We simply cannot keep the existing bridge,” Village President Thomas Cauley said at Tuesday’s Village Board meeting.

Cauley said if the village fails to replace the bridge, control of the crossing will revert to BNSF, and “the railroad has made clear they will tear down the bridge.”

Cauley said the village had investigated other potential sites for traffic in the area to cross the tracks, but none were workable.

“We can’t do something else because we can’t afford to do something else,” Cauley said.

The project has an estimated price tag of $17 million, which village officials believe will be covered entirely or almost entirely by grant money.

“We have funding in place,” Cauley said.

The money would come from a variety of state and federal sources.

“Nothing has been decided concerning the style of the bridge or the width of the bridge,” Cauley noted.

The present bridge was not built for motor vehicle traffic and is only wide enough for one lane. Two-way traffic over the structure is controlled by stoplights on both sides of the tracks.

Cauley said the village is especially interested in hearing the opinions of residents who live near the bridge.

“This is a process that will go on for a long time,” he said.

Village officials have said the design process could take up to 18 months and actual construction two years.