Politicians and regular folk alike attended a ceremony Friday for the opening of the newly-constructed bridge on South Delaware Avenue in Mason City. Balloons, speeches and root beer floats marked the occasion. Above: City Engineer Mark Rahm addresses the crowd.|Politicians and regular folk alike attended a ceremony Friday for the opening of the newly-constructed bridge on South Delaware Avenue in Mason City.
Balloons, speeches and root beer floats served up by Curves, located at the very north end of the new bridge, marked the occasion. City Engineer Mark Rahm gave the main speech, thanking Senator Charles Grassley for his role in securing a competitive grant that helped make the project possible.
Senator Grassley’s Representative, Fred Schuster, said the Senator was “pleased to play a small role” in helping Mason City get the grant award, and said city officials did most of the work.
Downtown Mason City should benefit from the bridge opening, according to Rahm. “This will revitalize and help them continue with their businesses.” Rahm also said the bridge and street “gives another access to downtown for the west-bound traffic. Some drivers may want to avoid the busy intersection.” Other officials think that the bridge may spur more business development in the immediate vicinity.
Rahm thanked the City Council, Mayor Eric Bookmeyer, City Administrator Brent Trout, Alliant Energy, Henkel Construction and their sub-contrators, WHKS Engineers, the Department of Transportation, and the affected businesses for working together to complete the project.
State Senator Amanda Ragan was there, as was State Representative Sharon Steckman. They were there greeting the public and made no speech to the gathering of about 50 people. No city elected officials were present.
The bridge was closed in 2008 after inspections deemed the bridge unsafe.
The bridge is a two-way street and include a sidewalk on its east side. The project cost about $885,000.
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