No Pedestrian Bridge If Villages Split On Site: Official

HINSDALE, IL — A top Hinsdale official said Tuesday the Illinois Tollway has informed Hinsdale and Western Springs that if they disagree on the site of a new pedestrian bridge over Interstate 294, the agency will not build one. Recent surveys of residents in the two towns indicate the majority in Western Springs prefers the existing site, while the Hinsdale majority wants to move it to 47th Street.

Neither the Hinsdale nor Western Springs boards are planning to hold a formal vote on the bridge site, with officials from both saying all they need is an informal consensus. The tollway needs to remove the current bridge, which links the villages, because of a planned expansion of the expressway, but it has offered to pay for a new one at either 47th or the current site.

At last week's Western Springs Village Board meeting, Village Manager Ingrid Velkme said it was ultimately up to the tollway to decide where to put the bridge because the agency is paying for it — a statement she reiterated in an interview Wednesday. She and board members referred to the village's choice as a recommendation to the tollway.

At the Hinsdale Village Board meeting on Tuesday, Assistant Village Manager Brad Bloom said it was not true that the decision was up to the tollway.

"The tollway has told us on multiple occasions that it was up to the two villages. If there isn't a consensus, the bridge isn't going to be built," Bloom told the board.

He said it was his impression that the Hinsdale board had reached a consensus on the 47th location at its Nov. 5 meeting. No one objected to his view. At the Nov. 5 meeting, when the board was asked if they supported 47th, most, if not all, indicated their backing. Members took no vote.

On Tuesday, Village President Tom Cauley said he preferred the 47th site because the residents next to the current site didn't want it near them. At first, officials said, some Hinsdale residents near the existing location wanted to keep it there, but once they received more information, they all backed away from their support. The 47th site is about a half mile south of the current one.

The proposed setup of the bridge would be different from the old one because of the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, Cauley said.

"But for the ADA, we could put in the same bridge, but we can't," Cauley said.

In Hinsdale, 53 percent of those surveyed wanted the bridge at 47th, while 58 percent in Western Springs preferred the existing site. The survey was conducted by the tollway.

The Western Springs board plans to revisit the issue at its meeting next Monday. Village Manager Velkme said the board is not planning to hold a formal vote on the issue, but would seek consensus.

In email exchanges with Patch, tollway spokesman Dan Rozek has not said what the tollway would do if the two towns fail to reach an agreement.

"The tollway expects Hinsdale and Western Springs to decide on the appropriate site for the pedestrian bridge. The tollway has no preference regarding the bridge location," he said.

At last week's meeting, Western Springs board members expressed different views about where they wanted the bridge. The Western Springs Police Department favors 47th, citing public safety reasons.

In an interview Wednesday, Bloom, Hinsdale's assistant village manager, said he expected the villages to reach an agreement.