Monon bridge at 191st Street project moves ahead

Westfield’s Board of Public Works and Safety approved a supplemental contract in June, bringing a bridge on the Monon Trail over 191st Street one step closer to reality.

The $614,200 contract with Lochmueller Group of Indianapolis covers project management, topographical surveys, permitting, stormwater analysis, utility coordination and bridge design coordination with United Consulting.

The bridge was included in the capital improvement plan presented to the city council in April. Lochmueller Group is the roadway design firm for the widening of 191st Street from Tomlinson Road to Grand Park Boulevard.

“With Lochmueller being the roadway designer, it made sense to make this supplemental to their already existing contract,” said Johnathon Nail, director of Public Works. “United Consulting will be doing the actual bridge design, and they will be a subconsultant to Lochmueller with the overall contract. Lochmueller will be the engineering firm responsible for making sure that bridge jibes with the road design that they’re working on currently.”

Nail said the fee is in line with the market rate for a pedestrian bridge, and that the city ideally would like to bundle the road widening and the bridge construction into the same construction contract, which will be dependent on how long the bridge design takes.

“We’ve been working on the road widening for a while now, so I don’t want to promise that they’ll be done at the same time,” Nail said. “Ideally, we try to lump them together because they’re in the same geographic area, we can coordinate scheduling accordingly. But, with that said, we are looking for road construction in 2025. So, if they can catch up on the bridge design side, it’s possible that (the bridge construction) starts then.”

Nail said right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation is required before bridge construction can begin.

The new bridge is in addition to a planned tunnel at the Monon and 161st Street, a project that was stalled in 2021 but restarted this year. The $8.8 million tunnel is in the design phase.