Stand at the end of Virginia Avenue near Parker John's BBQ & Pizza and the South Pier promenade is right across the water. The city chose that spot for a pedestrian bridge because it is the narrowest part of the Sheboygan River. Today you can't walk straight across it. You walk around through the 8th Street Bridge, which WHBL measured in 2022 as a route of nearly a mile and about 13 minutes on foot.
The swing bridge was supposed to cut that walk to under a minute. As of this month, the plan has stalled. City Administrator Casey Bradley has recommended that the Mayor and Common Council pause all further design and engineering spending, WHBL reported on Nov. 2. The money isn't going away and the idea isn't dead. For the foreseeable future, though, the trip between the Riverfront and South Pier still runs through the 8th Street roundabout.
Why the Bridge Was Planned for That Exact Spot
This project is older than most people realize. An earlier Sheboygan Sun update on city public works projects said it came out of 15 years of planning before it was announced in August 2022. The route ran from the end of Virginia Avenue to the South Pier promenade. The city picked the location because the river is narrowest there and the crossing would line up with other South Pier improvements.
The Sun described the problem in commercial terms. Getting between riverfront businesses and South Pier businesses has frustrated customers for years, and the only route is the 8th Street roundabout, which the Sun called the busiest in the city. With a bridge, people could park on either side and walk a short distance to businesses on both banks.
The bridge was also designed around the river's working traffic rather than around walkers. The plan kept the swing span open most of the time so boats could pass, especially the charter fishing boats that use the river regularly. It would close at scheduled times so people could cross. Pedestrians would have crossed on a schedule set by the boats.
How the Math Moved Out From Under It
Federal money came first. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Sheboygan a RAISE grant (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) for a "Bicycle and Pedestrian Swing Bridge." The USDOT fact sheet describes a shared-use bridge connecting two waterfront districts on opposite sides of the river. The city's Public Works Committee later recommended $1,335,483 in local matching funds.
Here is how the numbers looked then and how they look now:
| When the grant was awarded, 2022 | Bradley's recommendation, Nov. 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated total cost | $6,677,414 | More than $12 million |
| Federal RAISE grant | $5,341,931 | Same allocation, which the city would keep |
| Share of cost the grant covers | About 80% | Under 45% |
| Remaining cost for the city to cover | About $1.3 million | Roughly $6.7 million or more |
| Planned construction start | 2026 | Pause recommended, with no new date |
The last two rows of the table come from arithmetic on the published figures. They assume the federal amount stays where it is. That assumption is the core of the problem. The grant is a fixed dollar amount, so every rise in construction costs lands on the local side of the ledger. Bradley told WHBL that construction costs had climbed as much as 12 to 18 percent a year in some cases since the award, and that design refinements added to the increase.
Four years of increases like that nearly doubled the estimate. Meanwhile the federal contribution went from covering most of the project to covering less than half.
What "Pause" Actually Means Here
Bradley's recommendation has three parts, according to WHBL's Nov. 2 report:
- Stop further spending on design and engineering.
- Finish the environmental documentation process.
- Keep the federal grant allocation, watch future cost conditions, and treat the bridge as an aspirational long-term improvement for the riverfront.
The second step matters. Environmental documentation is the slow, early paperwork that big projects have to clear. Finishing it now means that if prices ever line up, the city won't be starting from zero. The project was also moving forward publicly until recently. On June 10, 2026, the city held an open house at Uptown Social, 1817 N. 8th St., to present its preferred bridge design and take public feedback, Seehafer News reported.
The recommendation was made to the Mayor and Common Council. The Board of Marina, Parks & Forestry had a "Pedestrian Bridge Update" listed for discussion and possible action at its Nov. 3 meeting, according to the Sheboygan Sun's meeting roundup. Those city bodies are where any final decision gets recorded.
The Two Sides the Bridge Would Have Joined
The bridge was meant to remove the detour between two dining strips. Both are still worth the walk around.
The Riverfront side. The bridge would have landed at Parker John's BBQ & Pizza, 705 Riverfront Drive. Weather Center Cafe is a few doors down at 809 Riverfront Drive, a riverside cafe with outdoor seating. Both appeared in the Sheboygan Press's May 2025 roundup of riverfront dining. Upriver, Rotary Riverview Park at 505 Pennsylvania Avenue has a waterfront boardwalk, walking paths, benches, picnic facilities and restrooms. Toward the lake, Harbor Centre Marina sits at 821 Broughton Drive, next to Deland Park & Beach.
The South Pier side. Harry's Prohibition Bistro is at 668 S. Pier Drive. Lino Ristorante Italiano is at 422 S. Pier Drive and was also part of the Press's 2025 riverfront dining roundup. Anglers Pub at 518 South Pier Drive marked its opening with a ribbon cutting, the Sheboygan Sun reported.
A dinner on one bank and a drink on the other still means going through 8th Street. If you're on foot, plan for a real walk. If you're driving, expect to park twice.
Where the Riverfront Is Still Growing
A pause on the bridge wouldn't stop all riverfront building. Upriver, HKS Holdings broke ground July 21 on the $68 million Riverview District at the former Mayline site north of Pennsylvania Avenue, the Sheboygan Sun reported. The plan includes 283 apartments, a riverfront walkway, a bike path and eight boat slips, with about 24 months of construction.
Bradley told the Sun that Riverview would tie into a new river walk on the property and the existing community bike trail. He said it would include publicly accessible spaces, docks and kayak launches.
That changes where riverfront walking goes next. The public path is growing along the north bank, upriver from the Riverfront, on the former Mayline site. Crossing to the south bank near the lake is still the missing piece. Riverview has a construction timeline of about 24 months. Under Bradley's recommendation, the swing bridge would keep its grant and finish its environmental paperwork, but it would have no construction date.
If you own a home near the Riverfront or South Pier and want to know how projects like Riverview, or a bridge that keeps getting pushed back, affect what your place is worth, Craig Kasten can walk you through the numbers on your street. Ask for a free home valuation and consultation, and we'll look at what's actually changing near you.
