Allouez Avenue, CTH O Bridge over the East River

Brown County, Wisconsin

The Allouez Avenue Bridge is located along a designated bike route, adjacent to the East River Bicycle Trail.  A significant bicycle and pedestrian traffic shares the roadway with over 10,000 vehicles per day.  Due to the significant safety concerns, such as lack of sidewalks and narrow roadway width, Mead & Hunt was asked to provide an initial feasibility study to determine if rehabilitation of the bridge would be cost-effective and solve the safety issues.  The feasibility study recommended the bridge should be replaced due to the deterioration of the bridge and the high cost of rehabilitation.

Mead & Hunt designed a replacement structure that provided adequate width to allow for the multi-modal use of the bridge.  The new bridge provides a 40-foot clear roadway width as well as two eight-foot sidewalks.  The bridge was converted from a rural cross section to an urban cross section.  The bridge length was also increased from 246 feet to 268 feet, and the roadway profile was raised to allow the East River Bicycle Trail to pass beneath the bridge.  This eliminated the need for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross Allouez Avenue under high traffic conditions.  In addition, aesthetic treatments were included on the bridge to compliment the surrounding area.