EAST CHICAGO | The Indiana Department of Transportation's plan to reroute traffic in lieu of rebuilding the Cline Avenue Bridge hinges on the viability of another bridge -- one that East Chicago officials say has been fraught with problems.
Al Velez, East Chicago's director of utilities, told The Times on Friday the Dickey Road drawbridge, which spans the canal, has frequent mechanical, electrical and hydraulic issues. It lifts to accommodate barge traffic in the canal.
The drawbridge is an integral part of INDOT's plan to reroute traffic onto a combination of Dickey Road, Riley Road and Michigan Avenue and back to Cline Avenue.
Velez said the bridge sometimes won't go up or will stay in the up position after a barge goes past. East Chicago officials closed Dickey Road for most of the day several months ago because the lift would neither lock up nor down, floating in between, he said.
"It's been taking quite a bit of our resources in the last six months to a year to maintain this thing," said Velez, whose staff currently fixes problems with the drawbridge.
The Dickey Road drawbridge's average daily traffic was about 3,100 vehicles per day, according to the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inventory database. That data is usually about two years old.
The Cline Avenue Bridge recorded 33,000 to 36,000 daily travelers before its December closure, INDOT spokeswoman Angie Fegaras said.
That means the Dickey Road drawbridge must be able to handle 10 times the traffic.
"Absolutely, it will be able to handle the projected traffic," Fegaras said.
She said the state agency will determine what repairs need to be made to the Dickey Road drawbridge as the project moves forward. She did not have specifics on the structure's current condition because it has not been state-maintained in the past.
Fegaras said INDOT is checking the bridge's condition. The agency assessed its general condition before deciding to shift traffic along that route, she said.
The Dickey Road bridge had a sufficiency rating of 78.2 as of 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, federal records show. That rating, given by the Federal Highway Administration after site and structural inspections, means the bridge may need repairs but remains structurally sound.
INDOT Chief of Staff Robert Zier told The Times on Thursday the bridge's support system and foundation are "tremendous." He said some repairs will need to be made because the bridge is 40 years old.
The bridge was repaired as recently as 1992, federal records show.
East Chicago's Velez is not convinced the bridge is a long-term solution to the Cline Avenue Bridge closure.
He said there are still unanswered questions, including whether the state will take over maintaining Dickey and Riley roads.
"This is what they did, and now we're going to try and make it work," Velez said. "We have no choice."
Times Investigative Editor Marc Chase contributed to this report