I am alarmed about the proposed and approved bridges at 32nd Street, especially after seeing a ground-level rendering as well as the astronomical price tag which has just kept increasing for this effort even before it gets started.
I understand there was a long public process. But I think the ground has shifted given the comments I see or hear from practically everyone I know.
I don’t think these bridges solve the safety issue that was ostensibly their primary purpose.
I worry that these bridges will become an enduring monument to government excess and overrun and people will no longer support funding projects that make Durango ... well, Durango.
There are so many other higher priority initiatives. I would like to see an underpass at the much busier Camino del Rio. I also worry that $4.1 million isn’t really the price. There is the budget and then there are change controls that up the price, ala Smith field, the Durango Whitewater Park and the northern extension of the Animas River Walk to Oxbow.
I get that there are always tough decisions to make and you can’t please everybody. But City Council, our parks and recreation staff and the parks and rec advisory board needs to listen to the overwhelming sentiment from the community and at least re-evaluate if this makes sense. It doesn’t!
Jody FurtneyDurango
