Downtown Oxford’s Polly Ann Trail bridge over M-24 was temporarily shut down last week after it was discovered that a 2-year-old went for a short stroll after slipping through a gap between the safety fencing along the ramps and the bridge.
‘He was outside the fence standing over the edge of the nothingness,? said Oxford resident Amy Wilson, referring to her toddler son, Danner.
Fortunately, a potential tragedy was averted and little Danner was safely retrieved by his grandmother, Liz Wilson.
The bridge was reopened Friday morning after a contractor employed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) made some temporary repairs to close six gaps along the ramps leading to the steel structure.
Apparently, while the Wilson family was returning from a walk on the trail April 7, Danner decided to take a little detour through a gap located atop the bridge’s northwest corner between a metal fence post and a square pillar.
‘I don’t do well in panic situations. I screamed, pointed at him and froze,? Amy said. ‘All I was thinking was get him out of there.?
‘Amy screamed bloody murder. I whipped around and looked, and Danner was on the outside of the black fence,? said Liz, who was on the walk with her daughter and three grandchildren. ‘He was taking a stroll. Can you imagine??
The little guy was moving to the west, where the ramp heads downward to Pleasant Street, and not to the north or east, which could have resulted in him falling approximately 20 feet to the ground.
‘Fortunately, he was not walking toward the drop,? Liz said.
Thinking to herself ‘please, don’t run away from me,? grandma walked toward Danner and told him to ‘come back.?
‘He did,? Liz said. ‘He walked through (the gap) by himself.?
Liz said Danner appeared to be ‘a little startled? because ‘he must have seen the fear on my face.?
Apparently there are four gaps ? one in each corner ? between where the black, metal fence posts meet the square, stone-faced pillars on the bridge. There are another two gaps along the western ramp between fence posts and square pillars.
Although the gaps vary in size, all of them appear as though children or animals could easily slip through.
‘I think there’s even some adults that could slip through there,? said Liz, noting the gaps are a ‘terrible hazard.?
Amy didn’t report the incident right away because, other than the fire chief who was out of town at the time, she ‘had no idea who to contact.? Finally, on Monday, April 14, she left a message for Linda Gierak, who’s been serving as interim Polly Ann Trail manager since October 2007. Gierak didn’t get the message until Wednesday, April 16 when she was on her way to a Polly Ann Trail Management Council meeting.
‘I was pretty disturbed,? said Gierak, noting she ‘immediately? called the Oxford Village DPW and had them close the pedestrian bridge. ‘The DPW guys are awesome and I really appreciate their help.?
‘I was very impressed with how quickly (Gierak) reacted,? Amy noted.
‘The gal at Polly Ann, she just leapt into action,? Wilson said.
Gierak was amazed no one had noticed these gaps prior to this incident.
‘As soon as I could I got out there and took a look at it,? she said. ‘I was surprised that it wasn’t seen before.?
Because MDOT owns the bridge and is responsible for all maintenance and repairs, the state agency was contacted.
According to Ahmad Azmoudeh, MDOT’s maintenance engineer for Oakland County, it appears that during the bridge’s construction in 2005 these fence ‘posts were not placed close enough? to the pillars.
‘There was a gap to begin with,? he said.
These gaps apparently widened as the posts shifted due to the state’s freeze-thaw cycle, according to Azmoudeh. ‘That’s what I feel is happening here,? he said.
Azmoudeh observed the fence posts are ‘not straight anymore,? but are instead leaning away from the pillars at angles of varying degrees. As a temporary fix, MDOT sent a contractor to the bridge Friday morning to cover each of the six gaps with wire fencing.
‘We should be okay for now,? Azmoudeh said.
Azmoudeh said MDOT and local officials will have to work together to come up with a permanent solution that both solves the problem and is aesthetically pleasing.
He also wishes to discuss the possibility of placing a fence around the outside of the ramps to prevent someone from accessing the ledges, which start at ground level and run along the retaining walls up to the bridge itself.
Both Liz and Amy Wilson hope this incident won’t portray the bridge in a bad light.
‘I don’t want this to be negative. It shouldn’t be negative,? Amy said. ‘It was just a design flaw that somebody needed to fix ? that’s all.?
‘I think (the bridge) has been a good thing. People have enjoyed it,? Liz said. ‘I like to see people get out and move instead of sitting around all the time.?