Pedestrian Bridge In Ridgewood — Repair Or Replace? Council Discusses

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — A request for proposals that was sent out for replacement of Ridgewood's Kingsbridge Lane Bridge received responses from only two vendors, neither of whom, to the dismay of village engineer Christopher Rutishauser, provided two key items of requested information: conceptual design and cost.

Kingsbridge Lane Bridge, a pedestrian bridge made from weathering steel, is in need of repair, though an initial assessment by the village found it was not repairable. So, an RFP was put out for replacement, according to village Councilman Paul Vagianos at Wednesday's meeting.

However, village Mayor Susan Knudsen said, at the meeting, that she had spoken last week with Kingsbridge Lane area residents, two of whom told her that engineer friends of theirs looked at the bridge and said it was repairable.

She and Vagianos had the idea to issue a second RFP for repairs, while also engaging with the two current bidders to submit the information requested in the original RFP.

But village attorney Matt Rogers said, in regard to the latter, that the law requires that the village would need to send out a new RFP, and, in essence, "start from square one," instead of negotiate with the current bidders.

So, the village will generate two RFPs: one for replacement and one for repair.

Knudsen said that repairing the bridge might be a better approach and, "in all likelihood," cut costs for the village. She also noted that residents she spoken to had questioned where a handicap-accessible ramp — one of the design requests in the RFP — would go, as there are no sidewalks, and that the bridge, in its current form, is "aesthetically appropriate" for the area.

"I think (an RFP for repair) is worth a shot," Knudsen said.