Bloomington formally closes road to unsafe Club House Drive bridge, as officials dispute ownership

The city staff decision on an emergency closure of Clubhouse Drive in Lower Cascades Park, which leads to a failing bridge next to SR 37, was ratified through a resolution by Bloomington’s board of public works on Tuesday (May 19).

The bridge was closed last Thursday, after an inspection by Monroe County government found the span unsafe for vehicular traffic heavier than 5 tons. Earlier, city staff had placed a “5” over the “9” on the posted weight limit for the bridge, which was consistent with the recommendation in the inspection report.

But at the board’s Monday work session, city engineer Andrew Cibor told the board, “Five tons is not a very high weight limit, and a lot of vehicles exceed that.” Even with a limit posted at five tons, a lot of vehicles weighing over five tons would probably still drive over it. “Just to reduce that risk, we decided to close [the bridge],” Cibor said.

Director of public works Adam Wason indicated that vehicles over five tons are fairly common, saying, “When we’re talking about vehicles that exceed five tons, that could be a truck with a lawn mowing business trailer on the back. That could be … some of the heavier duty pickup trucks … ”

At Monday’s work session city attorney Audrey Brittingham framed the action as the board’s ratification of what staff had already done in the field under the board’s general authority over the public right of way in Title 12 of the city code.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Brittingham drew a distinction between closing the road, over which the board of public works has authority, and closing the bridge, which the city is keen to stress it does not own and is not responsible for. Brittingham put it like this:

The city is closing the road and not the bridge, because at this time … we don’t believe that we own the bridge, and that we have the authority to close the bridge. But … the board has the authority over the roads and the rights-of-way on either side of the bridge.”

State law also gives the city engineer or the board of public works authority to open and close roads, to decide the placement of stop signs and traffic signals, and to install traffic calming measures.

Brittingham also highlighted for the board a separate legal question that staff will address later: Does the bridge situation call for application of the city’s Title 15 traffic code, which involves the engineer’s authority to implement a 180-day traffic order? Brittingham indicated that to be extended longer than 180 days, the order would need approval from the city council.

Brittingham and Cibor told The B Square after the work session it’s not certain when an earlier county inspection took place. That’s important because state law [IC 8-17-1-46] treats city-versus-county responsibility differently, based on whether the county government inspected the bridge before Jan. 1, 2024.

All other things being equal, any bridge longer than 20 feet, like the 27-foot Club House Drive bridge, is the responsibility of the county government. But if a bridge was not inspected by the county government before Jan. 1, 2024, and if the bridge has not been added to the county inventory, it’s not explicitly the county’s responsibility under state law. But that doesn’t automatically make it the city’s responsibility. The law apparently leaves undefined, who has responsibility for some bridges, like the one on Club House Drive.

A news release from the city issued last Thursday (May 14) said the city does not accept responsibility for the bridge, and that its decision to close the road does not mean the city is taking responsibility for the bridge.

The news release and the road closure, came after Monroe County commissioners passed a resolution earlier in the day on Thursday, telling the city of Bloomington that the bridge is not part of the county’s responsibility. The resolution also conveyed the recommendation from the recent inspection that the posted weight limit of nine tons be reduced to five.

For now, Bloomington’s administration is relying on the authority of the board of public works to close a road to ensure the Club House bridge is not a hazard to traffic.

How long the bridge will remain closed is unclear. Asked Monday by the board how quickly the structure might be repaired, if the city and county could immediately agree on responsibility and funding, Cibor said he did not “have a great answer.” He pointed to the time needed for design, permitting and construction.

Cibor concluded that even if there were no dispute about responsibility and the funding were available, it would still mean a “significant” amount of time to replace the bridge.

Under the resolution approved by the board on Tuesday, the barricades on either side of the bridge will remain until the it has been “deemed safe for vehicular travel.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, James Roach called on the two local government units to sort out the question of who has responsibility for the bridge. He put it like this: “I would encourage the city and the county to bring this to a conclusion as soon as possible, and I know that everyone will be doing everything they can to do that.”