INC NEWS - That Sucking Sound

[RW Pickle]

You can do exactly what you'd like to do right now Chris. Two years ago
the City built a ramp from the ATT to the top side of Beverly Drive. It
comes out by the bridge. In the plan for bridge removal, a like trail
connector will be built from the ATT to Fargo (there is already a trail
there and has been for years; it's just not ADA compliant). So the thought
that there will be no access to either side is a misconception. There will
be the same connectivity, but without an expensive bridge.

I can assure everyone that there is no plot on the part of our
neighborhood to restrict the travel of anyone to or from Forest Hills. The
pride of the neighborhood is the public park that our neighborhood is
lucky enough to be built around. It welcomes people from all across this
City every day. Picnics at the pavilion, ultimate frisbee and soccer in
the fields, the playground and sprayground for kids, our miserable pool,
the clubhouse where church and other groups meet. Your right, it's a nice
place and it is used a lot for any number of things. But having an
expensive bridge will not add to any of the above. It'll just detract from
the money that may be used for something necessary. The bridge is not that
item.

RWP
27 Beverly


> I don't live in that area, but if I did happen to live in one of the
> cheaper houses on the east side of the ATT, I'd love to be able to cross
> the ATT, and go for a stroll in Forest Hills.  Forest Hills is a lovely
> neighborhood, and a place I'd like to walk through if I lived in a
> bordering neighborhood.  I hope that Forest Hills encourages this sort of
> interconnection with it's neighboring communities.
>
> - Chris Sevick
>
> =====================
> From: RW Pickle <randy at 27beverly.com>
> Date: 2006/09/01 Fri AM 11:39:09 CDT
> To: inc-list at durhaminc.org
> Subject: INC NEWS - That Sucking Sound
>
> It's the noise you hear when the pockets of Durham tax payers are being
> sucked dry again. This time it's a needless bridge; the Apex Street
> Bridge. On the heels of a tax increase and a $110 million dollar bond that
> will have to be repaid, dealing with this issue should be done in a
> responsible manner; one that will not obligate the future.
>
> If City Council (on Tuesday) votes to replace the rotten Bridge with a
> pedestrian bridge, you'll hear that sucking sound to the tune of almost
> $100,000 more than just getting rid of this issue once and for all. It's
> the first chance we have had since it was built by American Tobacco almost
> 50 years ago. Why would Council even consider other options?
>
> The Bridge was built as a by-pass for trains that blocked Enterprise
> Street when American Tobacco was in business. American Tobacco is no
> longer there and neither are the train tracks that served it. In the
> place of the train track today, the American Tobacco Trail. It's time for
> this bridge to become a part of history like South Square Mall, the Geer
> Building, or the Old Washington Duke Hotel. The Bridge served us well when
> we needed it. But to replace it with any bridge at this time will cost us
> the future maintenance, repairs, and eventual replacement of anything we
> replace it with. Those are additional expenses we as tax payers will
> incurr above the cost to just  deal with this bridge one last time and
> remove it for good. It has served its purpose, let it go.
>
> We have this rare opportunity to remove this burden to tax payers once and
> for all. Let the City Council know that this is just wasting money that
> could be spent elsewhere. If we're going to build a new pedestrian bridge,
> let's build it acoss I-40 and connect the American Tobacco Trail to the
> southern end. That would be better money spent for a pedestrian bridge,
> not the replacement of one that has served its purpose and is no longer
> necessary.
>
> RWP
> 27 Beverly
>
>
>
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