Historic bridge slowly crumbling

A piece of Pueblo’s history is in bad shape.

The Union Avenue Bridge has been in Pueblo for almost 90 years.

The city’s public works department said since the bridge is approaching the century mark action needs to be taken.

“We’re going to have to actually replace the whole structure,” Pueblo Public Works Director Earl Wilkinson said.

Old beams, rusted metal and cracks are on the bridge.

Wilkinson said it’s going to cost about $16 million to replace the historic structure.

“$16 million for a city this size is still a tremendous amount of money,” he said.

The City of Pueblo is looking for grant money to replace the bridge, but that could be a long process.

“Much research and much conversation will be done to try and bring in federal dollars to deal with the bridge,” Pueblo City Council President Sandy Daff said.

Wilkinson said the bridge’s sufficiency rating, which is graded by the federal government based on the condition of the bridge, is below 50 percent. He said that qualifies the bridge for federal grants.

He also said a plan for the bridge needs to be laid out soon.

“We probably definitely need to have that bridge designed and moved forward to replace; I would say once we start reaching 100 years we better be in a place where we start to replace it,” Wilkinson said.

Spencer Claussen works near the Union Avenue Bridge. He said the bridge is his fastest way to work.

“I drive down it to work every day, it’s the main corridor to downtown,” he said.

Claussen said even though going to work will be an inconvenience when the bridge closes, he said it’s better than driving over a bridge that’s deteriorating.

Wilkinson said the state inspects the Union Avenue Bridge, along with the other bridges in Pueblo, every two years.