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• Prepare for bridge closure in River Falls
• Conference focus is 'green'

By Phil Pfuehler, RiverTown Staff

Make your travel plans accordingly. Narrow, deteriorating South Wasson Lane bridge in River Falls will be closed to drivers, walkers and bicyclists starting next Wednesday and through much of summer.

The old span will be demolished and replaced. It won't reopen until late July or early August.

The bridge closing will affect hundreds of high school drivers and their parents, along with many more who live near Cemetery Road.

Suggested detours are the Hwy. 65/35 bypass or South Main Street to reach and leave the high school.

City Engineer Reid Wronski said the bridge, which crosses the South Fork of the Kinnickinnic, will be replaced by a wider, 36-foot roadway; a 16-foot "multimodal trail" on the west side; and a six-foot wide "future sidewalk" on the east side.

Low bidder Ruzic Construction out of Neillsville is the contractor. The state will pay 80% of $754,000 cost with the city covering the rest.

Wronski said bridge work could not begin before May 1 due to Department of Natural Resources restrictions protecting trout.

Another factor: Swallow nests with eggs and young cannot be disturbed after May 15.

"Therefore, the contractor plans to begin May 1 to preclude swallows from making nests on the bridge before it is demolished," Wronski said.

Participants will be urged to "grow from being a curious bystander to a knowledgeable practitioner" during the Green Communities Conference set for Tuesday, May 20, at UW-River Falls.

The day-long event is intended for representatives of business, industry, government, schools and health care systems who are involved with managing, planning, operating or servicing large-scale facilities.

"Those who will attend will gain useful information pertaining to building green and incorporating green operational techniques as well as alternative energy and energy conservation strategies," said Tara Bergeson, Synergy conference program manager.

Presenters include Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute, whose topic will be "So How Big a Deal is the Energy Situation?" and Alexis Karolides of the Rocky Mountain Institute, whose topic will be "Making it Happen: Incorporating Conservation and Energy Efficiency Into Planning and Design at All Levels."

The morning general session will be a panel discussion on "Conservation and Alternative Energy: What's Happening in Western Wisconsin?"

Concurrent workshop sessions will focus on local municipality initiatives, building and managing green buildings and energy conservation strategies.

Opening remarks will be delivered by Judy Ziewacz of the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence. Closing remarks will be by Kelly Cain of the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development.

The fee for those who register by Wednesday, April 30, is $100. Registration will be taken up until the day of the conference, said Bergeson. The cost after April 30 is $119. The fee for students is $35.

Synergy, a project of the West Central Regional Education Consortium, is a regional alliance whose partners plan forums for discussions related to workforce development. Partners include kindergarten through higher education institutions across west central Wisconsin and the region's Workforce Investment Board.

For more information go to the Web site www.thesynergyconference.com or contact Bergeson at bergesont@uwstout.edu or 715-232-5270.