Sylvan Island Closing

[SpinStir]

It was announced tonight at Moline City Council that due to safety concerns with the bridge, Sylvan will be closed indefinitely, starting as soon as a permanent fence can be erected. It will remain closed until the bridge is fixed/repaired - no definitive plans to do either. Get your ride in while you can...

[Tigris99]

what concerns with the bridge, looks pretty dang stout to me, but i grew up in the country and seen tractors and such drive across less than that,lol. That BLOWS, hopefully island is rideable friday (dont now how flooding has affected anything) so can can get one more day in before hand.

Maybe we as a club can do something to help the problem?????

[Dust'n]

So does that mean the island is closed or the bridge is closed? With high water would not be very hard bring out a canoe or row boat. Hell my kayak is big enough for a bike. Is 16 feet long with a wide open hull.

[jJohnson]

Hard to believe that they would construct the parking lot, toilets, and Deere statue and then close the island and not invest in the bridge.

Also, good luck to them keeping kids off of the island, fence or no fence.

Do you happen to know of a transcript from the meeting?

[esmith4211]

does anyone know if/when they start putting up the fence?

[Byke Dood]

I am sure with a few modifications the old train bridge would work just fine until the other one is fixed.

[Bexter]

So depressing. I don't think the City realized the deteriorating condition of the bridge when they put in the new parking lot, etc. Sucks. Bet it'll be a quarter mil to replace that bridge. That's a lot of bake sales! I wonder what grant options are out there. I doubt the City can justify that expenditure when they could better use their dollars on streets and sewers meaning I don't see that the island will be available unless alternative funding sources step up.

[SweetSVT99]

I am sure with a few modifications the old train bridge would work just fine until the other one is fixed.

Problem is the property on the other side of that bridge is an auxiliary generating station owned by Mid-American. I don't see them ever allowing the general public any closer than the existing fences already allow.

[sixers2009]

20110508-1010-P4O5D-N0373934W1095382--Utah--Deker's-Road--Bridge-Made-of-Car--Sign--Cross-at-You.jpg

[SpinStir]

Problem is the property on the other side of that bridge is an auxiliary generating station owned by Mid-American. I don't see them ever allowing the general public any closer than the existing fences already allow.

That, and the fact that even though the deck has been slightly improved recently, it doesn't have side rails, a totally solid deck, etc. that would make it "safe" for public use...it would need $ as well.

They are going to start building a barrier ASAP, possibly today, definitely by the end of the week.

Minutes from last night's meeting won't be available until two weeks from today on the city website (Council has next week off).

[BD83]

Taming?

[Bexter]

There was a group formed over a decade ago, Friends of Sylvan Island, that was responsible for clean up of the island, the decks around the perimeter of the island, and I think the metal fish signs. The founder is a neighbor of my parents, though he is quite aged now. I emailed his daughter earlier this morning asking whether the organization remains intact and whether they have a 501(c)(3). I also emailed the City of Moline parks director about the condition of the structure and their engineer's thoughts as far as scope of this project. I also reached out to River Action, John Deere, Kone and a couple other people/places that may have connections. It's not a good expenditure of City funds as they have more pressing matters like streets and sewers to attend to, but as a community outreach project, perhaps...

After I posted something on Facebook, I received a few helpful messages about people that may have connections/resources. I will offer an update when I hear from a few of these preliminary contacts.

[gigantic]

It's sad to see that the powers that be in the Quad Cities are still in short sighted as they ever were. What the hell is wrong with those people?! Hey I know, let's build another casino!

[truta]

Is this something IMBA might be able to assist with as well?

[gigantic]

I've shared this with a friend who works at River action, hopefully they can help.

[jJohnson]

I can't believe there wasn't more of a warning that they were going to close it, instead of just throwing a fence up as soon as possible. That seems absurd, it couldn't possibly that dangerous or they would have expedited the event and not even allowed the Stampede, no?

[Bexter]

They worked with FORC and postponed the closing so that we COULD have our race.

Our best approach is to pull together and find a solution and resources. A couple friends of mine know about grants and my Facebook post motivated them into action, so they are now combing grant options (as will I). The FORC Board is exploring the issue as well. Let's pull together and see what we can do.

[sixers2009]

They worked with FORC and postponed the closing so that we COULD have our race.

Our best approach is to pull together and find a solution and resources. A couple friends of mine know about grants and my Facebook post motivated them into action, so they are now combing grant options (as will I). The FORC Board is exploring the issue as well. Let's pull together and see what we can do.

Anything we can do to help other than spread the word let us know because this sucks!

[jJohnson]

They worked with FORC and postponed the closing so that we COULD have our race.

That's good, I had no idea.

[sirbranderson]

Maybe Deere would be willing to help.

[bleedfororbea]

Wait!! they could set up a TIF area around the island they do it for everything else!
its front page in the paper almost every week!

[sirbranderson]

Is there some way to turn the beer chariot into the official FORC Ferry?

[jJohnson]

Is there some way to turn the beer chariot into the official FORC Ferry?

Tie two fat bikes together and you can float a few bikes across the river channel.

[DH001]

I wonder what kind of shady happenings will occur on the island once the gates are put up.

We need to build one of these:

[DaCricksta]

Isn't there more than just that one bridge to get on the island? Why can't we use the other one? I don't thinks they should shut down the whole island because of that.