Morgan County Board Clears Funding Path for Concord-Arenzville Bridge Repairs

The Morgan County Board voted Tuesday to approve a local agreement clearing the funding path for joint repairs on the Concord-Arenzville bridge, a span that carries traffic into and out of the village of Arenzville from the northwest.

Morgan County highway engineer Matt Coultas told the board there is no immediate danger to motorists and that the bridge is structurally safe. The concern, he said, lies with the joints. The joints were getting to the end of their service lives; structures like this typically last 40 years, and these were at least 38 years old.

The board's vote was not the first time the bridge had come up this month. Coultas had previously told the board the bridge was safe but had been the subject of a patching job by his crews. A dirt wall fell away, causing damage to the concrete, and Coultas said his crews performed patching work intended to hold until more permanent repairs could be made.

Tuesday's action moves the project beyond that temporary fix. The bridge will not be closed outright, though traffic may be reduced to one lane once work begins. Coultas does not expect the project to last more than a week.

The Concord-Arenzville bridge sits along the road connecting the two small Morgan County communities. Concord is in northwestern Morgan County, roughly 12 miles northwest of Jacksonville, the county seat. The corridor is a main artery for southbound drivers entering Arenzville, making the span a practical concern for daily travel in that part of the county.

The board also handled other business Tuesday. Members appointed Regina Estes to the Morgan County Housing Authority Board. Commissioner Dr. Michael Woods offered a proposed resolution that would give the county up to 12 months to review plans for any proposed data center, with one such facility proposed for the west side of Sangamon County near Waverly; Woods said he would like to bring the resolution back after legal review for a board vote on May 4.