Friday, December 16th, 2022
Bridge Dedication
Pedestrian bridge in St. Marys spans U.S. Route 33
By Bob Tomaszewski
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
A new pedestrian bridge spanning U.S. Route 33 in St. Marys was dedicated Thursday.
ST. MARYS - A crowd of St. Marys residents, students, school administrators and city officials gathered to open the long-awaited pedestrian bridge over U.S. Route 33 on Thursday.
"When I first came into office, this was in the works," said mayor Patrick McGowan. "We really got the ball rolling about six years ago."
The project was funded by $3 million in grants and $200,000 in matching funds from the city.
"It's an exciting day for our community and for our students. It's been a long time coming since the school was first built out here," said school superintendent Bill Ruane.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Members of the community gathered for a ribbon cutting dedication ceremony opening the bridge to foot traffic.
Students without vehicular transportation had limited options to get to school due the district's location just past a busy overpass on State Route 66.
"It means kids won't have to use that overpass over there, hopefully they will use (the bridge," McGowan said.
Ruane said giving students the option to walk or ride their bike to school was an important step forward for the community.
Ohio Department of Transportation project engineer Starli Bartlett said the project went smoothly, aside from a delay in August due to nationwide material shortages.
"Safety was the big aspect for this project, safety for the kids that was the main reason," she said. "They were walking across (State Route) 66 which is 50-mile-an-hour traffic. We want to keep the kids safe."
McGowan hopes the city will add a parking lot near the south side of the bridge in the future. For the time being, Ruane said he is focused on adding bike racks near the bridge, which he said could be installed as early as next spring.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Residents crossed the bridge for the first time Thursday.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Students and school officials made their way across the newly constructed pedestrian bridge for the first time Thursday.
