Bridge repair costs have more than doubled because pigeon poo disguised rust.
Council officials struck a deal for the work on Conwy Road Bridge in 2016.
But the costs shot up by £844,000 to £1.53m after an inspection revealed rust on the structure was hidden by the birds’ droppings.
Conwy council chief executive Iwan Davies said it was not possible to identify the extent of the works but a councillor said it was “disappointing”.
Repairs for the two lane bridge, which takes traffic across the town’s estuary, were sent out to tender in 2016.
But a report by the council’s audit committee said the “considerable” extra work needed had not been found originally because of “access” problems.
“The additional works…significantly impacted the total cost of the works,” the report said.
Gele ward councillor Andrew Wood said: “I can’t believe we’ve not made more of an issue about this refurbishment, it’s plus £844,000.
“If the council tendered with all that information in the first place then it would have cost less. But we’re in a situation now where we have to carry on, so I’m disappointed.”
Mr Davies added: “It wasn’t an overspend as such, it was a re-calibration of what needed to be done.”
Pigeon droppings coating the sidewalks outside a Blue Line stop have proved to be more than just a nasty nuisance. The problem also led to a bunch of finger pointing to figure out a long-term solution.
The sidewalk outside the Irving Park Blue Line stop is coated in bird waste. CBS 2 Morning Insider Lauren Victory got some odd answers when she started asking questions about how to do more than just clean up the mess, but stop it from coming back.
“This Blue Line stop is affectionately known as the pigeon poop stop,” Derek Barthel said.
The nickname for his commute might sound comical, but Barthel has literal bones to pick with the birds that created the mess, which isn’t just limited to bird poop.
“You’ll see feathers, you’ll see bones, you’ll see pigeon bodies, you’ll see cracked eggs,” he said.
Beady eyes watch your moves like Mona Lisa; the cement below painted with pigeon excrement.
“It stinks to high heaven around here,” Barthel said.
The pigeons at the Irving Park underpass below the Kennedy Expressway drop waste right and left, forcing bus and train riders into a game of hopscotch.
Barthel said he’s even had some close calls “with getting hit in the face with a pigeon.”
“it’s not funny at all when you’ve got pets at home, and you’ve got to keep your shoes away from them, because they’ll lick them and get sick,” Barthel said. “It’s a public health issue. There’s pregnant women, there’s elderly, there’s sick, there’s children walking through day in and day out.”
That’s why Barthel wants more than just a clean-up.
“The problem first of all needs to be solved in the long-term,” he said.
Some have tried by installing bird spikes to keep the pigeons away from the underpass, but their solutions are in disrepair, as many of the strips have fallen off.
Perhaps jurisdiction complicates matters. The pigeons are hanging out on property half of which belongs to the CTA, the other half to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Hosing off the sidewalk falls to the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, but cleaning the sidewalks won’t get rid of the pigeons making the mess. Not to mention, the south side of the underpass is in the 45th Ward, and the north side is in the 39th Ward.
“I’ve been on the phone with them (the 39th Ward) no fewer than three times,” Barthel said.
When CBS 2 reached out to 39th Ward Alderman Samantha Nugent’s office, a spokesperson brought up someone else to blame. He said feeding the pigeons only exacerbates the problem, and also noted it’s illegal to feed pigeons in Chicago.
Signs near the underpass reminding people of the $500 fines for feeding pigeons are dilapidated and faded, and in need of replacement.
Within less than a day of CBS 2 contacting the city, the sidewalk had been cleaned of pigeon poop.
However, it doesn’t seem like the long-term problem will be fixed for good anytime soon.
The Illinois Department of Transportation said bird barriers or shields would interfere with bridge safety inspections. Just like Nugent’s office, IDOT also wagged a finger at people who feed the pigeons.
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