Bayview Bridge lighting will take about a year

Bayview Bridge lighting will take about a year

6 months, 2 weeks ago by Bob Gough

City officials hope to have bridge lit pink for Breast Cancer Awareness next October

The timetable to install LED technology to allow multi-colored lights on Quincy's Bayview Bridge has been pushed back a bit.

City officials met with Illinois Department of Transportation officials in Springfield earlier this week to discuss the project.

Quincy Mayor John Spring says the scope of the work needed to set up the project means the bridge lighting will not be ready in time to color the bridge red, white and blue for a Riverfront 4th celebration, but instead the debut of the lights looks to possibly be October and the bridge can be turned pink to honor Breast Cancer Awareness.

Spring said there is work that needs to be done not only by IDOT, but also by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The City raised more than $190,000 in private donations to achieve the 20 percent match needed to access $500,000 in federal funds earmarked for the project. The administration had tried to put some local matching funds in the city budget each of the last two years, only to have aldermen remove it.

The bridge lighting was first proposed by the late Joe Bonansinga in 1995, saying it would serve as a tourist attraction.

The cost of energy to light the bridge using LED lighting is about $3,000 annually with the lights being on from dusk to dawn. The Great River Economic Development Foundation has pledged to pay for the lighting for the first three years.

Klingner and Associates will do the preliminary engineering and design studies at a cost of $55,000. City officials say the company has reduced its fees by 10 percent for this project.

The total cost of the project is $685,000.