The city of Elkhart late Tuesday announced that next summer they’ll remove the Nappanee Street pedestrian bridge that helps students at two schools avoid crossing a busy state highway. A teacher at one of the schools is determined to find a safe solution.
For some 54 years the steel pedestrian bridge has connected West Side Middle School and Mary Daly Elementary. The city says contracted structural engineers have determined the bridge has reached the end of its life cycle and can no longer remain in service, and replacing it would cost about $8.5 million.
Because Nappanee Street carries State Road 19, changing the crossing would be up to the Indiana Department of Transportation. An INDOT spokesman declined our interview request, but in a statement, said the state can’t afford to replace the bridge, but if the city can find the money, it would approve such plans.
That response isn’t sitting well with Chad Crabtree, a West Side Middle School teacher who also represents the neighborhood as a city common council member.
“I personally think the state is putting it back on the city," Crabtree says. "I’ve reached out to the governor’s office numerous times. They’ve kind of taken it into consideration with not much follow-through. We need Governor Braun and his entrepreneurial spirit to come to the table and find a solution to this.”
