Erie pledges public meetings on new Kahkwa Bridge design as engineering firm is hired

The public influenced the city of Erie's original plans for the demolition of the Kahkwa Bridge over Ravine Drive, and the public will get to meet over the design of the replacement span.

The city engineer said at least two public meetings are anticipated as part of the project, which has advanced with a City Council vote.

City Council followed the recommendation of Mayor Joe Schember's administration and approved a contract with the engineering firm that will design the new bridge.

The 101-year-old original bridge, 57.1 feet long and 27.6 feet wide, came down in October over concerns about its dilapidated condition, including crumbling and falling concrete.

The demolition project was to include the construction of an access road through one of the wooded ravines that line Ravine Drive. But Schember in the spring of 2021 backed off that plan after neighbors complained about how the road would destroy trees and wildlife habitats.

The consultant hired to design the new bridge is TranSystems Corp., based in Kansas City, Missouri, and with an office in Pittsburgh. It will be paid up to $585,424 for the bridge work, according to a resolution City Council approved at its regular meeting on Wednesday night.

The funds are derived from the additional $5 fee Erie County motorists started paying in 2018 to register their vehicles.

The city has already determined that the new bridge will, like the old bridge, carry cars and trucks with space set aside for pedestrians. The new bridge will have "enhanced" spaces for pedestrians, the city said.

The Schember administration picked the automotive-and-pedestrian bridge after that option received the majority of support in a poll of residents who live near the bridge, in a neighborhood west of Frontier Park and just south of Presque Isle Bay and the Erie Yacht Club.

A new bridge:What type of span will replace bridge over Ravine Drive? City makes pick

The Kahkwa Bridge connects two sections of Kahkwa Boulevard as it goes over Ravine Drive — the only route to the Yacht Club and Ferncliff, the cluster of bayfront houses to the east of the club.

On the waterfront:Erie's Ferncliff enclave came to life through tough times

Though the general design of the bridge is set, TranSystems "will be tasked with developing approximately three alternatives," City Engineer Jason Sayers said in an email. "All alternatives will accommodate vehicular traffic and include enhanced features for pedestrians."

"A minimum of two public meetings are anticipated," Sayers also said. Dates have yet to be announced.

The design will determine the cost of the bridge, and the city will seek additional funds for construction once the design study is done, said Renee Lamis, Schember's chief of staff. She said the city intends to approach the Erie County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the public body that allocates funding for transportation projects countywide using revenue from the $5 from motorists. The MPO allocated the money for design of the new Kahkwa Bridge and demolition of the former bridge.

Where the money goes:$5 fee funds bridge repairs throughout Erie County

Once the city awards construction bids, work on the new bridge is expected to start in mid-2023, City Engineer Jon Tushak said in March, when the city was seeking proposals for the engineering work. Tushak retired as city engineer on June 3, and Sayers took over the job, the city said.

Design requests:City of Erie seeks engineering firms to design new Kahkwa Bridge over Ravine Drive

Erie City Council President Liz Allen lives on Lincoln Avenue, several blocks east of Ravine Drive. She said she favors construction of a a new bridge, though she said "equity issues" might arise over it. The bridge will serve one of the city's most affluent neighborhoods.

But a new bridge, Allen said, "needs to be put in there."

Changing course:Ravine Drive bridge debate: Erie mayor says no access road, cites trees, neighbors' concerns

Residents upset:Erie neighborhood cherishes its ravines. City to build road through them for bridge project

Though the construction cost of the new bridge is far from final, the city so far has spent little of its own money on the project. It used $35,000 of its own money on the $200,500 demolition. The city paid for the balance with funds derived from the $5 countywide fee for motorists.

City Council in August approved a demolition contract for the old bridge with Konzel Construction, of Millcreek Township, the lowest responsible bidder. Two months later, in October, the bridge was gone.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie's Kahkwa Bridge project: Design firm hired; public meetings planned