Sparta’s project to repair the railroad walking bridge at South Carter Street River Park has stalled after bids came in over budget.
The lowest bid for the project was an estimated $200,000. Sparta Mayor Jerry Lowery said the city was not expecting the project to cost that much.
“We’re gonna look at other options as well and just see, you know, what we can do with that,” Lowery said. “It needs to be upgraded and a least be repaired. We were gonna put concrete all across it and make it a really nice area, but I don’t know if it’s gonna be cost-effective to do that.”
Lowery said the city is considering using an alternative material rather than concrete to lower the price of the project. Lowery said the city is not in a rush to repair the bridge.
“We just felt like it would be good to do a project that we could get completed and make it a little nicer bridge across that river,” Lowery said. “But, you know, it’s usable right now and people are using it every day and we don’t think it’s unsafe, but just an upgrade would be nice.”
