City staff wants to bridge gap in aesthetics

Competing concerns about aesthetics and price have complicated the process of replacing a bridge at Arlington Park.

The Arlington Park pedestrian bridge has been a subject about which nearby residents have been concerned since at least last fall, Arlington Park Neighborhood Association President Rick Farmer said. The wooden structure is worn, forcing the county to place plywood atop it to keep it passable.

“We’ve been complaining and screaming about the bridge for a year,” Farmer said. “It’s gotten worse lately.”

Although Farmer was upset with the fact that the aging bridge is still in place, the city has been looking into the issue for nearly a year. The city brought in a consultant late last year to evaluate the structure. At the beginning of the year, that consultant determined the bridge was at the end of its lifespan, and provided a variety of options for the city to replace it.

Public Works General Manager Todd Kucharski acknowledged the project timeline has been extended longer than originally anticipated, attributing the delay to complications with the consultant.

Still, this summer, city staff was prepared to finally procure bids for a replacement bridge — until resident feedback put the project on hold.

An issue arose regarding the proposed replacement structure, an aluminum prefabricated bridge similar to those the city has built at the Robert L. Taylor Community Complex and the Alderman Geenan multi-use recreational trail. At the Oct. 6 City Commission meeting, Vice Mayor Susan Chapman summed up the opposing viewpoints on the topic.

“(Residents are) concerned about the bridge at Arlington Park, that it’s not going to be consistent with the rustic nature,” Chapman said. “I did speak to staff, and they’re concerned about building something that lasts.”

City spokeswoman Jan Thornburg said the city proceeded with the aluminum bridge because construction and maintenance costs would be lower, with the bridge having a lifespan of 25 to 30 years.

After hearing concern from residents, however, staff agreed to revisit its options.

Although Arlington Park is a regional park maintained by Sarasota County, the county’s budget for capital projects at the park is $5,000 per year. Any expenses above that $5,000 figure must be covered by the city, which is why cutting down on maintenance costs was a priority, Kucharski said.

He hopes to attend the Oct. 21 Arlington Park Neighborhood Association meeting to discuss the bridge — both to get more community input and to present his perspective on the project.

“I want to talk about this as a whole with the community and share with them the rationale of what we’ve gone to,” Kucharski said. “We’re supposed to be stewards of the taxpayer dollars — to make sure we’re getting the best we can out of a dollar.”

Farmer was firm on the subject, and questioned whether the project — which has a $100,000 budget — couldn’t be done to match the residents’ desire for a lower overall price.

Although Kucharski wants to communicate the staff perspective, he’s also flexible depending on the response he gets.

“We started getting more data collected in addition to what was originally recommended,” Kucharski said. “I’m going to have to have multiple options for the community to review and look at and then go from there.”