Historic preservation commission to join Section 106 consultation on proposed East 13th Street bridge
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Summary
After neighborhood testimony, Davenport's Historic Preservation Commission agreed to seek consulting-party status in the Section 106 cultural-resources review for a federally funded East 13th Street bridge replacement and asked staff to draft a letter expressing concerns about preserving the historic character and street connectivity.
The Davenport Historic Preservation Commission signaled support Feb. 10 for joining the Section 106 consultation on a federally funded proposal to replace the East 13th Street bridge in the East Village.
Dan, speaking for the Village Heights Neighborhood Association and the Scott County Historic Preservation Society, told commissioners the bridge is "a historic rail line" and a neighborhood icon whose replacement with a higher, concrete structure could dead-end Mound Street and harm the area's historic character. "We just feel that the railroad recognizes kind of the historic compatibility of these bridges," he said, urging the commission to review the DOT packet and back a more historically compatible alternative.
"This is a neighborhood bridge," said resident Duncan Brook, describing the span as primarily used by nearby households and urging commissioners to consider local connectivity and the street network in any replacement plan.
Laura Berkeley, zoning administrator and the commission's staff liaison, told the commission the project is federally funded and therefore subject to an environmental review that includes a Section 106 cultural-resources review. She described multiple options identified in consultant materials — including do-nothing, rehabilitation, pedestrian-only, reconstruction, and bypass alternatives — and said the consultant's preferred option is replacement in kind. Berkeley noted the DOT packet asks whether the commission wishes to act as a consulting party and that a written response within 30 days would preserve the commission's access to future materials and discussions.
"From generally, what I'm hearing from the commission is, we can draft a letter for Chris to sign as the new chair of the commission that basically summarizes our interest in being a consultation party and then, generalized comments on that this has a cultural impact, and please be sensitive to that," Berkeley said.
Commissioners expressed concern that raising the bridge to meet standard clearances could require higher approaches that would alter adjacent streets, including the potential dead-ending of Mound Street, and they emphasized a preference for solutions that maintain the village's circulation and the railroad cut's historic character. Several commissioners said they preferred an "in-kind" or traffic-calmed single-lane design that preserves access and the visual character of the neighborhood.
Action and next steps: staff will distribute the DOT packet to commissioners, draft a consultation-interest letter that highlights the commission's concerns about design, historic compatibility and street continuity, and circulate it for signature by incoming chair Chris Kretz. The commission did not vote on a formal resolution; staff will proceed to file the commission's interest in consultation within the DOT's response window.
The Section 106 review and related environmental process will determine what design alternatives advance; commissioners asked staff to report back with any substantive responses from DOT or SHPO.
