She added that over the winter, water and snow could get into any cracks and cause further damage to the path. St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center administrator Jon Moses declined to comment on the bike path proposal, declaring he doesn't follow the construction of the new hospital at that level of detail. St. Luke's has immediate needs to meet fire department flow requirements. St. Luke's borings need to be larger and deeper than the bores usually reviewed by the rec district. The bore near the river would require extensive de-watering.
Testing indicates a high possibility of bore failure, due to numerous rocks near the river.
The hired contractor will not be able to complete the boring by winter. Contractors and equipment capable of performing the boring cost-effectively are not available before winter. Crofts said for her part she is concerned that making an exception for St. Luke's could set an unwanted precedent for future builders. To help ameliorate the negative impact trenching will have on bike path users, St. Luke's has offered to conduct the work on two separate nights between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. The length of the detour will be approximately 200-300 linear feet.