So, it appears the amount of repairs needed on the Beech Street foot bridge over Oak Creek is more than meets the eye.
Milwaukee County Supervisor Pat Jursik got back to me today with an update on the scope of the project to fix the bride, which washed away during the July 22-23 storms — the second time in two years this has happened.
Apparently, the entire deck of the bridge needs to be replaced as well as two of its crossing support beams. County engineers are working on this, and this work must be completed before the bridge is put back in place.
Supervisor Jursik has asked that the work be done by Sept. 1 to accoomodate the dozens of students who use that bridge to get to school everyday, but there are no promises it will be in by that date.
“Parks knows of the target date and is working to get it in,” Supervisor Jursik said in an email.
I’ll keep you posted when I hear more. And you can learn more about the issue in my post below.
In the meantime, there is another point to keep in mind here. From Supervisor Jursik’s email:
I want to remind you that our AFSCME 48 employees which includes Parks must take one furlough day per pay period, this translates into 2 off days (unpaid) every month. It also translates into less work being done. While no one is looking for excuses, this is the reality we live with. Taxpayers must understand that reducing taxes equals reduced services and/or longer time periods to accomplish tasks. This is the reality of life in the county.
Indeed, we can’t have it all, can we?
South Milwaukee Blog 
Oh those poor AFSCME employees, welcome to the real world, my husband has lost almost 25% of his wages in the past 18 months, he too is a union employee.