Supervisor Patricia Jursik Thanks the County Board for an Emergency Provision to Fix Pedestrian Foot Bridge

County Supervisor Patricia Jursik thanked the County Board of Supervisors today for attending to an emergency need in South Milwaukee.   After the County Executive ignored pleas to replace the Beech Street footbridge over the Oak Creek Parkway, the only means of securing an emergency approval was through extraordinary actions of the County Board. These actions involved a supermajority vote to suspend rules and then a two-thirds vote to spend $200,000 in contingency funds to fix the bridge.

Many floods have taken a toll on the Beech Street Pedestrian Bridge in South Milwaukee. Due to limited resources and a long list of deferred maintenance, the bridge kept getting put back together with Band Aids. In May, the bridge finally washed out for the last time, and it was deemed too broken to replace.

Unfortunately, this bridge is the only pedestrian access for school children in the South Milwaukee subdivision west of the Oak Creek Parkway and south of College Avenue to cross on their way to school. Parents, the school superintendent, teachers, and the Mayor of South Milwaukee all lobbied to get the bridge replaced before the start of school in September for the estimated 200 students who use it. After denial of action by the County Executive’s office, a very difficult path remained to find relief before school resumed.

“My colleagues understood that when it is necessary to ensure the safety of school children in crossing the Oak Creek to get to school, it was time to take extraordinary measures,” Jursik said. “I want to thank them publicly and tell all of our citizens that the legislative branch of County government really does care for all of our citizens especially the vulnerable such as our school children. The Supervisors listened, and they acted.”

On a vote of 14-4, the County Board voted to replace the Beech Street pedestrian bridge over the Oak Creek in time for the new school year.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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