Historic old bridge is holding up traffic
90-year-old span shut down, but can't be fixed or replaced

 TREMONT, IL - The future of the old Locust Street Bridge, also known as the Waltmire Bridge, is as uncertain as its 90-year-old wooden planks. But as of Tuesday, the bridge south of Tremont took its last car over the Mackinaw River. Tazewell County officials, acting on an order by state transportation authorities, closed the bridge permanently to traffic because of its deteriorated condition. "It's a dilapidated old piece of junk," said county Highway Superintendent Norman Johansen. "We're going to do everything we can to keep people off of it." The bridge's future, however, remains in limbo.

Some county officials, like Johansen, want to tear down the bridge and build a new one. But preservationists, who want to see the bridge restored to its initial grandeur, managed to get it historic status in 1998. The Tremont Historical Society spearheaded the move to place the bride on the national historic registry. That status ties the hands of county officials because the county can't move forward on plans to build a new bridge until the old bridge is decertified by state officials. But taking the bridge off of the list is a time-consuming process, assuming it's successful. The County Board has not made any move to ask the state to decertify the bridge.

In fact, before the historic status, Johansen had secured federal and state funding for much of the money needed to build a new bridge. "But the historic thing stopped everything," Johansen said. "What takes place now I'm not sure."

County Board Chairman Jim Unsicker, R-Morton, says the townships of Hopedale and Dillon, which the bridge links together, could petition the County Board to do something about the bridge. But if there's opposition to building a new bridge there, some county officials may not be convinced. Tremont historical officials, including Ben Oertle of the historical society, say the bridge is unique to the remote area and should be preserved. Kenneth Siegrist, Dillon Township highway commissioner, says he would like to see a new bridge there. "It's a hazard to township traffic," he said. However, the township hasn't had any meetings yet to discuss the status of the bridge, he said.

The bridge, located about five miles south of Tremont on Locust Road, was built in 1910 by a local man to span the Mackinaw River in Tazewell County. It was named after John Waltmire, a farmer who lived nearby. It's also commonly known as the Locust Street bridge because of its close proximity to that road. The bridge links the townships of Hopedale and Dillon. For years, many rural commuters used the one-lane bridge to get to their jobs or shopping in Peoria and to get to Tremont.

Over time, however, the bridge began to show its age. The steel used to build the bridge in the early 1900s is no longer used for that purpose. It is rusty, and its wooden planks are rotting with gaps in some places of between 3 and 5 inches. Eventually, the weight allowed on the bridge was reduced to a 3-ton limit.

Officials from the Illinois Department of Transportation inspected the bridge last month, and just recently told the county the bridge is so dilapidated, it needs to be shut down for safety reasons.

"(The bridge shutdown) does bring a little bit of closure to this issue," Unsicker said. "The problem is, the bridge is still there. Either it will have to taken down or it will fall piece by piece into the river and have to be removed. Granted, that thing could sit there the rest of my life and never fall into the river but that doesn't remove the liability."

Taken from the Peoria Journal Star, January 11, 2001.
Story by Anita Szoke. Photos by Leslie Renken