Have you used the Belmont Bridge lately?

5 comments

Yes, I have used the Belmont bridge lately--every day, at least twice a day. CRAZY that they want to "do away" with that bridge! Maybe the higher powers need to get stuck at the railroad tracks a few times while trying to get into town on Carlton, or perhaps they need to sit in traffic for an hour on 5th Street--which is already WAY over crowded. They need to use their common sense (IF they have any!) and repair the bridge and leave it be!

I use it every day. Now I have to wait for the cars to stop (which they rarely do, during "rush hour" because of that stupid, over-priced fence. If it's wasn't there I would be forced to cross the railroad tracks (which, apparently, is illegal) even though there's no fence where it runs through a residential neighborhood or I would have walk an extra 5-7 blocks out of the way to get to my work adding considerable time to my pedi-commute, which would really suck during the winter & bad weather. I was trying to save gas & money by living within walking distance from my work, but the pay in this town sucks and the cost of living, as well the local government, is ridiculous.

Yup, no problem, but leave it to the city to mess it up.

I walk or run across the Belmont Bridge several times a week. The fence on the east side is infuriating. True, there was a hole through the full thickness of the concrete sidewalk on that side, and it's possible that a pedestrian or runner could have stumbled on it, but it could have been patched with about $15 worth of materials. My running route used to stay on the east side of Avon/9th St. and now I am forced to cross the street twice. Some drivers are courteous, but I have seen plenty who ignore the embedded crosswalk lights.

Not to mention that when there are concerts, or Fridays after five, pedestrians and runners have to make their way through the crowds on the sidewalk near the Pavilion. I was mildly assaulted when I was out for a run by two people at the Doobie Brothers concert last year, who tried to block the sidewalk with their arms and grabbed at me as I ran past. Give us back the sidewalk on the east side of the bridge!