Cracking concrete over bike trail causes safety worries

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND)- The Stevens creek Bike path travels from north of Pershing Road down into Fairview. Near the end of the trail, the path goes under Route 36 and a railway bridge. But the concrete supports holding up the bridge especially the one nearest to the path, have significant cracks and chipping concrete.

"This is a really nice park overall, bridge excepted," said Nicole James, who uses the trail about once a month and was shocked when she saw the damage. "I wouldn't be walking over there if the train's going over."

There is a metal covering over the path directly under the railway bridge. But Clay Gerhard, the Executive Director for the Decatur Park District, says this was built when the trail was open due to the way the rail bridge was constructed.

"The reason for that [covering] is the ballast stone that the goes around the railroad tracks sometimes, as the trains travel across bridges, that ballast stone will fall off, and so that's what that structure is intended to prevent," said Gerhard. "But anytime you see cracking or missing concrete off of a bridge structure, it definitely is a concern."

Gerhard said the park district wasn't ware of the cracks, but planned to reach out to the railroad, which owns the bridge, as soon as possible. While these types of structures are required to undergo routine inspections, he didn't know if the owner was even aware of the issues.

The park district's maintenence team regularly travels down each trail to ensure all park-owned property is well-maintained. However, Gerhard said they are usually inspecting the sidewalks and crossing areas, and not necessarily looking up at the bridges over paths.

Many routine trail walkers we talked to today said the park district generally takes good care of Fairview Park. One walker, Debbie Vanzant, said every time she's called the park district, they've fixed the problem quickly.

"I am a huge fan of the park district, I think they do a fabulous job on all their parks and on their programs," said Vanzant. "It is one of the reasons to live in Decatur. So you'll find no complaints from me. We have called occasionally with the tree down or something, and they've always responded."