After mulling over several different ways to temporarily repair the bridge of Seventh Avenue Southwest, city council narrowed it down to two options on Monday night. 

The first option would be for construction crews to demolish the east side of the bridge and make it one lane. This option would only allow for a five-ton weight load. 

“The load rating for the bridge is at least 5 tons, which should still allow for police and ambulance access to the valley,” said David Chow, who is the legal counsel for the Thorn and Avery families that live south of the bridge. 

“It may not allow for fire truck access, but we can still obtain partial emergency services to that area of the valley. It would also allow the Avery children to utilize the school transportation.” 

The second option was a collaboration between Associated Engineering hired by the city and a report brought forward by the Avery and Thorn families from a local construction company. 

The report called for the deck of the bridge to be jacked up and the pilings re-enforced. However, Stephen Chaisson from Associated Engineering said it didn’t address the destroyed pilings or the undersized piling caps that distribute the weight. 

n the advice of its insurance company. While the Avery and Thorn families have keys to the gate, it is still causing an inconvenience, and Coun. Dawn Luhning also questioned the legality of putting a locked gate across a city-owned road. 

Council also passed unanimously to allow administration to have discussions with Carpere about removing the gate now that the bridge is closed to all traffic.