Haidous, Glaab to set meeting on Waltz Rd. Bridge

Wayne County Commissioner Al Haidous said he is working to set up a meeting for members of the public interested in learning about details of repair work on the Waltz Road Bridge in New Boston.
The meeting is also expected to address ongoing problems with the CSX railroad tracks that are often blocked in Huron Township.
On Tuesday, Commissioner Haidous said he is working with Huron Township Supervisor David Glaab and hopes to hold the meeting at the Huron Township Hall. He said he wants to have the meeting include county technical staff and engineers to talk about the bridge and, hopefully, representatives of the railroad to discuss that problem.
The date has yet to be set and that’s because he wants to make sure he gets all the county people together to bring all the facts to the public.
He said CSX will be invited, but he doesn’t know if they will come. He said he had bad experiences with the railroad blocking streets when he was Mayor of Wayne. And then, Congress passed a bill that municipalities can’t issue tickets to railroads. Tickets were what worked in Wayne. Also, Congressman John Dingell helped Wayne at the time, Haidous said.
Commissioner Haidous said he has had many calls and emails to his office from people upset about the bridge being suddenly closed for repairs on June 1.
He said he called Wayne County Executive Warren Evans on Friday to tell him of the problems this bridge closing is causing and Evans said he is making it a priority project.
“He said he will work with me and push for its completion,” Haidous said.
Haidous said he talked to officials in the county road department and they said when they assessed the damage on the bridge it turned out to be more than they thought it would be. They have to replace all of the four bearings, he said.
A lot of engineering work is necessary before repairs can begin, he said.
People are concerned about fire trucks, police, and ambulances having to travel long detours since the bridge is closed, causing delays of vital services. Also, businesses in New Boston are suffering from the closure.
Huron Township Supervisor Glaab agreed the situation is a mess and he is working with Haidous. He said Haidous has been very busy with other projects, as well.
Haidous said he wants the public to get all the information available and whether it’s good news or bad news, the public has to have the truth.
“We can’t leave people in the dark,” he said.