Amsterdam, New York's Bridge to Nowhere Should Not Be Built

In Albany, New York 17 million dollars is chump change, money you throw into your ashtray to pay thruway tolls. In Amsterdam, New York, however, it is still a lot of money. It is the price of a pedestrian bridge that will span the Mohawk River in a few years, now that the last apparent obstacle to it's building has been removed. That last obstacle was Assemblyman George Amedore who last summer opposed the building of the bridge, but who last week changed his mind. What changed the assemblyman's mind was learning that pork purchased from the state by our tax dollars can not be returned, no matter how rancid or badly butchered.

Most Amsterdamians Don't Want A Pedestrian Bridge Across The Mohawk River

The arguments against building the bridge are overwhelming. Most Amsterdamians don't want the bridge. While neither consulted nor allowed to vote on building the bridge, Amsterdamians voted against the 2005 transportation bond act which provided money for the bridge, even though the state as a whole approved it.

In letters to editors, common council meetings, blogs, talk shows and the 105th assembly district election debates, Amsterdamians made it clear that they didn't want the bridge and George Amedore agreed. They said, and he said, that a pedestrian bridge across the Mohawk River was not a priority in a city which for four decades has been the buckle of the rust belt. It was agreed that the money would be better spent on economic development, tearing down dilapidated buildings and other needy projects.

The Pedestrian Bridge Across The Mohawk River in Amsterdam Is A Bridge To Nowhere

Corporate Counsel, Robert Going, pointed out on his blog one of the most compelling reasons for not building the bridge--because it is a bridge to nowhere. While the south end of the bridge will begin at the foot of Bridge Street, the north end will exit onto a field which is hemmed in by two sets of railroad tracks and the river. While in theory the bridge connects the south side of Amsterdam with the north side, in practice it doesn't.

For example, if one of Amsterdam's handful of pedestrians wants to get from the north end of the proposed bridge to Amsterdam's downtown, which is only a water pistol's squirt away, he will have to walk a hundred yards or more to Riverlink Park, climb several flights of stairs to another pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks, and cross the pedestrian bridge to the top level of the parking garage of the Riverlink Center. He then can enter the Riverlink Center, take the elevator to ground level and walk through the Center to downtown. All of this is contingent on the gates at the end of the bridge over the railroad tracks not being padlocked, as they often are.

A Pedestrian Bridge Across The Mohawk River already exists

What makes the proposed Mohawk River bridge even more ludicrous is that a pedestrian bridge connecting the north and south sides of Amsterdam already exists, and it is only one hundred feet or so downstream from the proposed bridge. While only a sidewalk on the existing Route 30 bridge and while not as beautiful to look at as the architect's rendering of the proposed pedestrian bridge, it already does what the proposed bridge will do.

Why Are We Building A Pedestrian Bridge Across The Mohawk River When Few People Want It?

So why build the bridge? Besides such reasons as the delight of sitting on the bridge and reading a book, which ignores the fact that even in Amsterdam's library most people are using computers not reading, there seems to be no vital reason for building it. The principal argument now coming from the bridge party is that if we don't use it, we will lose it, meaning the chump change. In other words Assemblyman Amedore has consulted at length with the state and found that the 17 million dollars earmarked for the bridge cannot be used for anything else, regardless of whether Amsterdam has more pressing needs and regardless of what Amsterdamians want. So he now supports the bridge.

Amedore is a handsome, humble ("just call me George"), and likeable person. More importantly, he is a fiscal conservative, which is one reason I voted for him. He took a pledge not to raise taxes. Someday, however, taxes will have to be raised to pay back the money borrowed to build the bridge. Furthermore, rancid pork is a gift that keeps on giving. There is not only the initial cost of the bridge, but there is also the acid reflux of bridge maintenance.

Now that George has changed his mind, it will be difficult to return to his original stance. But he should. He owes it to himself to not abandon the principles he believes in. He owes it to the constituents he made promises to.

The bridge to nowhere is an opportunity for George to say to the state that he will fight to get every dollar he can to help Amsterdam rebound economically, but that it is irresponsible to accept money for a project that the people don't want or need.

Continued opposition to Amsterdam's bridge to nowhere would be a real act of political courage and reform. For years we have heard politicians talk about reforming New York State. But that's all they have done. In essence, they have been saying "let George do it."

Now George is here, but it doesn't look like he is going to do it either.