Janie BoschmaRecently I made the big move from the 10 block by 10 block area known as “the student ghetto” to the other side of the river, the Third Ward.
So far I like my new surroundings.
The neighbors are friendly, we have a convenience store just down the block – Johnny’s Market, and with the exception of some lengthy road construction earlier this fall, it’s relatively peaceful.
But with the new territory comes a new route to my favorite place, Water Street. In earlier years, I simply had to cut across a few backyards and stride a couple blocks before bellying-up to my favorite watering hole.
That has all changed. Now I have to face the gauntlet of the bridge that connects Summit Avenue and Water Street over the Chippewa River.
For those of you yet to make the crossing, picture an American Gladiator event where you have to run across a narrow beam while steroid-infested jocks with long blond mullets are clocking you with big sticks in an attempt to knock you off. I may be exaggerating a bit, but crossing the Water Street bridge is a frightening experience.
First, the road is narrow and traffic is heavy for much of the day. Crossing the bridge at bar close is worse because there’s a stronger chance there are drunk drivers also on their way home. If a car were to swerve toward the sidewalk, there wouldn’t be anywhere for a pedestrian to go.
Second, and most importantly, the railing on the bridge is dangerously low. I’m 6 feet tall with my shoes on, and the top of the railing comes up about mid-thigh on me. When I lean up against the bridge, I can feel how easy it would be to fall off.
I measured the railing and found the average height to be between 33 and 34 inches, or slightly less than three feet.
For someone my height or taller, a hard stumble or a good push could probably send that person falling into the river, or worse, onto the rocky riverbank on the north side of the river.
Such was the case in October 2004, when 20-year-old Jacob Libby climbed over the railing as a joke but fell 35-feet onto the rocks and later died from his injuries, according to Pioneer Press and Spectator articles.
Maybe the low railing can’t be blamed if Libby did indeed climb over them, but certainly it made it easier for him to be in a position to do so.
What happens when hundreds of students cross the bridge this weekend on their way to and from the Homecoming activities? It’s the biggest drinking weekend of the year for students and a few too many cocktails and a rowdy crowd heading over the bridge could be disastrous.
One solution to the problem is that students shouldn’t drink so much alcohol that they are at risk to fall off the bridge. However, we need to face reality: for better or worse, students at this campus and campuses all over the state like to drink. Take a walk along Water Street on any given night. Knock on doors in Towers Hall around 9 p.m. on the weekend. It’s the common thread for many students.
The drinking problem isn’t one that will go away overnight; it will take time. But in the meantime, fixing the Water Street bridge railing is an easy way to save someone’s life.
Besides the drinking aspect, the bridge is dangerous to sober people riding their bikes. I shudder when I see peddlers swerve a little while they cross the bridge. One bad tire or one miscalculation could send the rider over the handlebars and off the bridge. Someone on a bike has almost their entire body above the height of the railing.
These are morbid thoughts, but I would rather they stay thoughts and not become horror stories for students on weekends such as Homecoming.
My suggestion to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is to look at the UW-Eau Claire footbridge as an example of an acceptable railing height, 55 inches high on average, and implement that standard on the Water Street bridge.
