Comments received as of January 16, 2020 via the Input page on this website are provided below.
"Thanks much. That would be a huge project for the city either way it sounds like. And I'm no expert on bridge maintenance, but I wonder if the city could realistically afford to maintain a bridge that would cost that much to build. Do you know if the 2008 study that was used as the basis for the current status of the bridge is freely available to the public for review?"
"As a working professional who relocated back to Burlington, we need to continue to grow our community with an eye toward the future. If we are to attract and retain future generations, we need to find a way to enhance the quality of life here and keep our infrastructure strong. The bridge may not impact our city in a large way, but it truly is a sign of our times if we let it deteriorate and not be replaced. I live near the bridge and grew up by the bridge and so for 45 years have seen it’s impact. I don’t think I need to stress that Crapo and Dankwardt parks are two of the most beautiful and historic parks in our region, but more importantly how do we want our city and town to be seen by those like me; working, tax paying, citizens who want Burlington to be the best it can be. Let’s get a new bridge, keep it fiscally feasible, and not wait another 20 years."
"The Mississippi River is our city's most salient feature. Cascade Bridge is a direct part of the Great River Road that was once an easy pathway along the river to Main Street and Downtown Burlington. Now cars, bicycles and pedestrians are forced to take an unsightly detour. Our forefathers spent a great deal of time, money, and planning to create this wonderful access to the parks. For the sake of our children and generations to come, let's restore the direct pathway of the Great River Road through Dankwardt park to Main Street."
"Build a new bridge with pedestrian access. I would recommend for both vehicles and pedestrians. While the roadway has been closed since 2008 and the community has adjusted to this prolonged closure, I think that most members of the community would like to see the bridge crossing return for both vehicles and pedestrians. It would help advance the goals of ongoing bike & pedestrian planning as well as reinstate the tourism/economic development message of following Main St. from downtown to the community's signature park and recreation areas."
"If it can be restored e economically, i think it has a historical enough significance to the city to do so. If not it should come down as it will only become a safety hazard."
"Restore and/or replace, highest priority should be to reopen the bridge sooner than later. Keep all facts and discussions transparent and very public."
"I believe that the Cascade bridge should be rebuilt as a single lane emergency exit for vehicles. It should be open to pedestrian and bike traffic. If someone should happen during Symphonic blast with 3000 people and only one exit is asking for trouble."
"The most attractive option to pursue would be to retain as much of the bridge as possible and build on it. This is the common approach to rehabbing historic structures. This would allow use of historic tax credits which would be a great help with the financing. I would love to see a drawing of this approach."
"Closing Cascade Bridge and allowing it to remain closed to all traffic is an embarrassment for Burlington and a detriment to recreation, culture and tourism. For decades CB has provided the path to one of the city’s most attractive features, its parks. Closure creates a major detour on the Mississippi River Road that causes its users to avoid Burlington entirely. While Main Street does not have the traffic volume of Mt Pleasant Street where the bridge was replaced, it is an important route for residents' quality of life."
"Demolishing the bridge and replacing it with another is worrisome. Due to cost it’s unlikely that a new bridge would be as attractive as the Mississippi River Bridge. More likely the bridge would be as ordinary and unremarkable as the new river bridge at Keokuk where residents are quite envious of the bridge at Burlington. However if the new bridge would be notable and architecturally significant, I would support it. As a former resident of Chicago, I’ve seen new bridges of similar length built across the Chicago River and its branches that are very attractive. The notion of demolishing the bridge and merely providing a walking path is unattractive. To make it usable, a bridge of some sort would still be necessary because of the depth of the ravine and, unless the bridge is at street level, use would be limited."
"Unbelievable that this bridge has not been replaced after all these years, and the city has wasted money on other projects."
"Prior to it shutting down, it was always my route to downtown shopping. I prefer the shops downtown and our only book store! For safety reasons, some areas of town have become less desirable as a route to the downtown area. It is part of the Great River Road. It is also a connection to our beautiful parks. Emergency vehicles must take a round about route to reach people without the bridge. The people who attend the summer concerts in the park must take an alternate route. We have been promised over the years by candidates running for city council that their first priority would be Cascade Bridge (yes I voted for them) only to let down! Don't get our hopes up if you don't mean it! Several candidates got in on the bridge promise! Please, stop the lies and tell us the truth! I'm a 70 year old lady who has heard lots of promises that were never fulfilled! Please, be honest!"
"We live north of Cascade bridge and always used that bridge as a way to get to the park. We would frequently take the bridge when we went on runs, or when we walked our dog to the dog park. I would really like to see the bridge opened to pedestrian traffic again so that those of us who live in the neighborhoods North of the bridge can easily access the park."
"Tear it down, build a new bridge that will work for traffic plus pedestrians and bicyclists. This will provide the most options. It would be nice people could drive up main street and continue to the park w/out driving all the way around. At a minimum (if money is very tight) tear it down and build a new bike bridge that will attract people similar to the High Trestle bridge or the bike bridge in Decorah, IA. If a bike bridge is not much less than a vehicle bridge, then you might as well spend the extra to allow traffic. Don't stick any money into the old bridge. If it doesn't cost much to reuse/repurpose the bridge somewhere else in the community but talking with local people they don't care about keeping the old and want something new that is usable by all."
"Rehabilitate the existing structure. I love this bridge! I think it's an important part of Burlington, Iowa..."
"More than 90% of the people that have driven over Cascade Bridge had no idea what the supporting structure looked like underneath.. To spend millions more to repair the existing structure and to only get half of the life span of a totally new bridge, does not make much sense. Especially when the existing structure is designed in such a way that if any structural member fails, the entire structure fails. That was maybe good enough 100 years ago, but certainly not today. I appreciate that the under structure of the existing bridge is unique from an engineering standpoint, but people need to be realistic on this issue. Main Street needs to be re-opened as soon as possible with construction of a new bridge. From a historical perspective, it would be interesting to have a 25 to 30 foot long model of the bridge constructed as a display at the park end of the bridge as a tourist attraction. Also, the design of the new bridge could perhaps have an arch shape underneath and and the railings on the top side could be designed to appear similar to the present bridge."