Lathrop Avenue Viaduct (Racine, Wisconsin)

The Lathrop Avenue Viaduct was a railroad viaduct carrying the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad over Lathrop Avenue in Racine, Wisconsin. Constructed in 1932, it was abandoned along with the rest of the line in 1982 and demolished in 1998 to make way for part of the Racine–Sturtevant Trail.

History

Early subway (ca. 1908–1931)

Two Racine Journal Times photographs show the Lathrop Avenue subway in 1929, from both the north (top) and the south (bottom).

As early as 1858, a railway had been constructed proceeding in an almost perfectly straight line from Racine Junction, on the south side of Racine, to Burlington 27 miles (43 km) west at the opposite end of the county. At this time, what would become Lathrop Avenue was an unpaved farm road, which was laid out and given its name around 1908. A narrow subway, dug into the ground at the crossing, allowed one car at a time to pass under the railroad tracks, but by 1929, this subway had become inadequate for the growing city. At this time, the crossing was located on the boundary between the city of Racine and the town of Mount Pleasant, and both municipalities urged the railroad to widen the subway. The West Racine Businessmen's Association also pushed for the subway to be widened, as well as for one to be constructed at Cleveland Avenue.

In November 1930, the city petitioned the state railroad rate commission to order the railroad to both widen and heighten the subway, describing the one-lane subway as a "menace". The commission ruled in favor of the city's request on March 24, 1931, requiring the railroad to widen the subway to 53 feet (16 m) including sidewalks, and to begin construction as soon as possible. Shortly before construction began, on June 3, 1931, the Racine Journal Times reported that "three Negroes" had been arrested at the crossing on charges of vagrancy after several boxcars caught fire there.

Construction and early history (1931–1938)

In September 1931, the city of Racine and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad began jointly seeking contractors to excavate Lathrop Avenue at the site and construct a viaduct for the railroad to pass overhead. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission gave the railroad a deadline of December 31, 1931 for the completion of the $68,000 viaduct, which was later extended to April 30, 1932 after construction was hampered by flooding and freezing conditions. By early April, the excavation was complete and a "dangerously narrow" temporary wooden viaduct had been completed, but the railroad requested another deadline extension from the commission to build the permanent viaduct. The deadline was moved to July 1, but by early June the railroad was seeking another extension, leading to protests from residents of Lathrop Avenue, who called on the city council to fight any further extension. A week before the July 1 deadline, the construction was expected to overrun, but be completed as quickly as possible.

After the construction of the viaduct, Lathrop Avenue remained unpaved. During heavy rainstorms, several feet of water gathered in the street, requiring local residents to clear off the water to prevent accidents. In 1934, the area's alderman, Leroy Olson, called for federal funding to pave the street under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). The segment of road was paved in 1935 with funding from both FERA and its replacement, the Works Progress Administration.

The street underneath the viaduct, seen here after record rainfall in January 1938, was prone to flooding.

On January 24, 1938, record rainfall in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois led to significant flooding throughout the region. Lathrop Avenue underneath the viaduct was flooded with water more than four feet deep. The driver of an automobile which drove into the water was believed to have drowned, but it was found that he had safely escaped from the car. By 1969, sewer backups were becoming a common problem at the underpass, with raw sewage leaking into the basements of houses near the viaduct.

Abandonment (1982–1998)

The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad abandoned the Racine–Sturtevant line in 1982 during its lengthy bankruptcy proceedings. The right-of-way was acquired by Railroad Properties Associates, a group co-founded by the Downtown Racine Development Corporation and Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce (RAMAC). The area surrounding the Lathrop Avenue viaduct was sold to Wisconsin Electric for the construction of power lines, although Wisconsin Electric later stressed that it was not the owner of the viaduct structure, only the land it sat on.

Thunderstorms believed to be sparked by a tornado trapped two cars under the viaduct on the night of August 16, 1987. Another rainstorm stranded a motorist there on August 30, 1993.

After the railway line was abandoned, the viaduct became a common yet dangerous place for local teenagers to hang out. On September 6, 1993, Labor Day, a 15-year-old boy fell 25 feet from the viaduct to the street below, while attempting to perform a somersault on the viaduct's railing. He suffered a fractured skull, but survived without noticeable brain damage. The boy's father, Jerry Anderson, subsequently began a campaign to have the viaduct removed or fenced off. Anderson and city officials struggled to determine ownership of the viaduct, preventing meaningful action from being taken. By 1995, the city began to propose constructing a bicycle trail along the former railway line, and local residents debated whether the viaduct should be torn down and the dip in Lathrop Avenue filled in, or converted into part of the new trail. After further investigation, the city stated that, since Railroad Properties Associates had never explicitly sold the viaduct to Wisconsin Electric, it was still the owner until it was dissolved in 1987, at which point ownership transferred to RAMAC, the majority partner in its founding. RAMAC disputed this claim and said they had sold it to Wisconsin Electric.

Demolition (1998)

The abandoned viaduct, photographed by Jim Slosiarek in March 1998, months before its demolition.

In 1997, Racine County received federal grant money to convert the railway line into a bike trail, but ownership of the viaduct was still not established. The city council stated that it would negotiate a plan with both RAMAC and Wisconsin Electric to demolish the viaduct and fill in the dip in Lathrop Avenue. The Lathrop Avenue Business Association pushed for the viaduct to be removed in March 1998, Some local cyclists, including John Lehman, disagreed with the decision, arguing that converting the viaduct for trail use would be safer than having cyclists cross Lathrop Avenue, but Racine County officials said they did not want to accept the liability of owning the structure.

The span of the viaduct was demolished in March and April 1998. The removal of the support structure and retaining walls of the viaduct, and the raising of the cut in Lathrop Avenue, took place in September and October 1998. The road was raised three feet, leaving a smaller dip but not fully leveling out the roadway. This would have required the driveway of the house at 1824 Lathrop Avenue to be reconstructed, and possibly the sale and demolition of the house itself. The residents of the house, who had been advocates for the demolition, said that they were never asked to sell their property, in response to accusations that they had deliberately held out and complicated the reconstruction process.

After years of delays largely caused by difficulties dealing with the viaduct, the Racine–Sturtevant Trail was constructed on the former railroad right-of-way throughout 2000, and that segment opened in October of that year.