MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — "For our medical response, we are in a bad location," said an exasperated Pattonville Fire District Chief Jim Usry, pointing toward the cluster of buildings on the other side of the Prichard Farm Road bridge, "for the simple fact we can see it from there, but we can't get to you in a timely manner."
It was a busy day in July 2022 when Fee Fee Creek swelled and damaged the bridge beyond repair. Usry understood the delay then; there were a lot of other things to get to. But now, two years later, he says enough is enough.
"Four to six minutes is when brain death occurs when people stop breathing," Usry explained. "So therefore with those life-threatening situations, by closing that bridge permanently it adds on two minutes and forty seconds of response time for us to get to the same location, which is unacceptable."
Pattonville Fire District House 3 used to be in the perfect location: quick access between 141 and 270. Now trucks are routed around Prichard Farm Road and sometimes into flooded areas.
"I didn't think about it when I was just kind of driving myself," remarked nearby resident Molly Witzofsky, "but yeah, I don't want it to take any more extended time for fire, police, anyone to get here and help out if needed."
Usry said the FEMA funding window is about to expire and St. Louis County now wants Maryland Heights to take over a bridge project that isn't even their road to begin with.
"Irresponsible to say the least," Usry lamented. "It was irresponsible for the loss of the Federal funding. It was irresponsible to take the approach of, 'We'll just dead head this and give it away' and it was irresponsible not to look at what this does to our community and our public safety response."
5 On Your Side asked about a timeline for the replacement of Prichard Farm Road.
A spokesperson replied, "We intend to completely replace the bridge. However, the funds needed for that project currently are not available. (We estimate it will cost $6 million.) Consequently, a schedule/timeline for the job does not exist. Our team continues to research all potential revenue sources for the project."
Paul Robinson with New Frontier Materials, whose North Stone site sits very close to the Prichard Farm Bridge, shared this statement in an email to 5 On Your Side:
"The Prichard Farm Bridge has been out of service since August 2022. Our customers have been severely impacted by this closure.
"They’ve been forced to find and use alternate, longer routes, which ultimately costs them time and fuel. Our Asphalt & Quarry operations on Creve Coeur Mill Rd. have been a significant provider of asphalt and aggregates in the area due to the easy access to Hwys 70, 364 and 40. The Prichard Farm Bridge has connected us to these major thoroughfares for close to 54 years.
"The bridge also served as a main crossing for New Frontier Materials, Fred Weber, Pattonville Fire Protection District, other businesses, and Maryland Heights residents. Permanently losing this bridge would be a huge disadvantage to the future of rebuilding the infrastructure of our local highways and the safety of the local community by increasing emergency response times."