Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Riverside Bridge

Howdy!

As I am sure all of you know by now, the county commissioners are considering the removal/replacement of the old Riverside Bridge. I know this is not 'officially' the City of Ozark's business, but I think it's important.

I have not lived here my whole life, and I am not usually a sentimental person when it comes to things like buildings and bridges, BUT something really struck a nerve with me when I heard we might be losing this beautiful bridge. I our city and our community would suffer a great loss if this landmark were to be torn down.

This being said, I know my opinion comes with some limitations.
1. While the bridge is most impressive from my kayak in the Finley, I do not have to drive over this bridge every day. The beauty of the bridge is not worth any injury or loss of life should something happen.
2. The city has no official say or money to use to influence the fate of this bridge. Although, I hope to see the county and the city and any other interested parties working together to find a solution.

So, all I really have is an opinion, and it alone is not going to restore or replace any bridges.

I also do not have a solution. I know there are many organizations, including the Christian County Historical Society looking into it and many suggestions have been made. I don't think we have enough information at this point.

Unfortunately, as with most things in government, this will probably come down to.....well....money. The only solution that has an estimated cost and funding mechanism is the one where the county tears down the bridge and builds a new one. We need to find out how much it will cost to do the other many solutions (moving it, restoration, pedestrian bridge, etc) and then find a way to pay for them other than through the county or city coffers.

Saving the Riverside Bridge will be a difficult but noble en devour. Again, I don't have the solution and frankly I don't know a thing about saving bridges or historical things. I just know that there are possible solutions, and I want to see the county explore them all ad nauseam. Tearing down the bridge should be the last resort.

The Headliner and Kris Dyer with the Christian County Historical Society are leading the way in exposing this issue and in brainstorming for solutions and funding. Checkout the Headliner's articles:

http://www.ccheadliner.com/articles/2010/01/20/news/doc4b55ed04efa88026777240.txt

http://www.ccheadliner.com/articles/2010/01/20/opinion/doc4b55e43de8578935849487.txt

Also, if you have any ideas and would like to become active in this effort please contact Kris Dyer. You can catch her on her facebook group "Save Riverside Bridge".

4 comments:

  1. You say this isn't the City of Ozark's official business, is that because it is outside of the city limits?

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  2. Michael,

    Yes, It is just outisde city limits. I should have clarified that. If fact, our limits stop right before the bridge starts.

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  3. I hope the Historic Riverside Bridge can stay where it is, be restored for bike/ped use and a new bridge can be built beside it. It's part of Ozark and Christian County's history. It's part of what makes Ozark unique.

    It shouldn't come down to one or the other...the county and any other government organization should be able to Saves lives AND Save the bridge.

    As a very last resort, if it comes down to moving the old bridge to dry land in order to save it, then at that point it would probably be within the City of Ozark and that SHOULD involve the City of Ozark. Hopefully they are exploring how the bridge would be moved, where it would be moved to and how it can be resorted and maintained with adequate insurance. If they wait until a budget/plan is approved it could be too late because the Ozark Special Road District is trying to take over the County's bridge project and start to quickly tear down the old bridge in order to replace it with a new one. That could be within 2 to 3 months from now.

    The Ozark Special Road District's unofficial plan does NOT involve saving the bridge. Their current talk is to give a 60 day public notice in order for a private group to do something about moving the old bridge before they start demolishing it.

    The new engineer recently hired by the county is in the works and I hope they are creating an option that will save the bridge.

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