Officials Push For New Fox River Bridge

Brown County’s executive says it’s time to act on getting another bridge built across the Fox River: He’s calling on the county board to pay for an initial engineering study on a new structure.

The idea of a bridge in the southern part of the county that would connect a state highway to the east with Interstate 41 to the west has been talked about for 20 years. The closest existing bridge runs through downtown De Pere, and is nearing its traffic capacity.

County Executive Troy Streckenbach wants the board to include $60,000 for the initial engineering study.

“In terms of significant dollars, it’s not a lot,” he said. “But in terms of possible future economic development, the longer we push this out, the more we’re losing out on.”

Streckenbach said potential employers have passed on Brown County because of the bridge situation.

If a bridge is approved by the Federal Highway Administration and the state Legislature, Streckenbach said construction could begin by 2020. It would be paid for by a mix of federal, state and local money.