BURKARD'S BLOG
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27 JUN 03: HONEYMOON BRIDGE
Today is a big day for thousands of downtown Columbus drivers, as a new bridge opens on Veterans Parkway. We're now waiting for Lonnie Jackson and Jim Rhodes to suggest the bridge be named after them.
The ribbon was cut around 10:00 a.m. to open the new Veterans Parkway bridge, between 15th and 18th Streets. There's some good public relations - wait to do it until AFTER morning rush hour.
I wanted to be among the first to drive on the new bridge - yet when I reached it at 10:20 a.m., it was still barricaded! Then I remembered one of the most important rules of events like this. Politicians have to give speeches first.
Around to Second Avenue I went - and traffic was narrowed to one lane, as city crews took down a detour sign for U.S. 27. C'mon now, first things first....
A police officer allowed me to park along the side of Veterans Parkway and walk up the bridge to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. So I couldn't be among the first drivers - but I was among a few dozen who could stand in the middle of the new bridge, without getting run over.
Several major officials attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Rep. Calvin Smyre and Mayor Bob Poydasheff were there in suits and ties, while City Manager Carmen Cavezza wore a casual sportshirt. It's easy to tell which person has job security....
One reporter at the ceremony wanted me to point out how humid it was atop the new bridge. Maybe they should have made the overpass about 100 feet taller, like that new bridge in Brunswick.
Drivers on Veterans Parkway have taken detours for two years, while a railroad underpass in the area of 16th Street was turned into an overpass. So why does it take state road crews two years, while Fort Benning soldiers can set up a bridge in a combat zone in about two days?
Since I live near downtown, I've had to deal with the detours around the Veterans Parkway construction. If I was in a hurry, I'd use Second Avenue. If I was in a gambling mood, I'd use Fifth Avenue - and risk waiting half-an-hour for trains to clear.
It turns out a car drove across the new Veterans Parkway bridge several months ago, BEFORE it officially opened. The driver claimed he lost control of his car, he bailed out of the driver's seat - and the car sailed driver-less across the bridge, taking down a McDonald's sign at 14th Street! Some residents privately wished the driver had aimed for the Water Works office instead.
The Veterans Parkway bridge project killed several businesses in the neighborhood. Money Back tore down a convenience store at 15th and "The Vet," which included the "Frisky Whiskey" liquor shop. [True!] I never could understand the idea of
selling dog food and booze in the same place.
One gas station has remained open throughout the Veterans Parkway construction. The Crown station at 15th and The Vet now stands to be a big winner - which makes me afraid the price of regular gas there is about to go up 15 cents.
Have you stopped to consider the potential LOSERS, with the opening of this new bridge? Three downtown churches post their Sunday sermon titles on Second Avenue by Thursday each week. Now drivers won't shop around for the most interesting topic anymore.
(A couple of other places might lose business, as the new bridge opens. People tired of staying at the Salvation Army and House of Mercy will have a new place to sleep.)
All kidding aside, I'd like to suggest the new bridge on Veterans Parkway be named after former Columbus Mayor Bobby Peters. After all, he lives on First Avenue - so he can appreciate the end of detours more than anybody.
Since I moved to Columbus, three new downtown bridges have opened: 13th Street across the river, Second Avenue and the new Veterans Parkway bridge. So what's next? Oh yeah - the bridge along the Phenix City Riverwalk is still shut down.
(Please now, don't suggest that OTHER downtown bridge needs replacing. Every time I jog across the Dillingham Bridge, I feel like I've accomplished something.)
Mike Gaymon of the Chamber of Commerce floated an interesting transportation idea the other day - a hub at Columbus Metropolitan Airport for planes, trains and buses. BUSES?! How can he expect Greyhound to take passengers to the airport, when METRA doesn't even run there now?
I write from personal experience, when it comes to METRA. I rented a car from Avis for a vacation four years ago, and decided to take a bus to the airport to pick it up. The closest METRA comes is the Airport Thruway Wal-Mart store. From there, you have to walk -- and there's no sidewalk! And people still wonder why Atlanta gets so much business....
Speaking of transportation: as I paid for a 44-ounce drink at RaceTrac Thursday afternoon (still the best soda price in town), the woman behind the counter muttered something about "getting a baseball bat" - then excused herself and ran out the door. I thought for a second Lester Maddox had come back to life.
It turns out the RaceTrac employee was chasing a driver with an Alabama tag, who was driving off without paying for gas. She came back inside short of breath, but with the tag number. If only they'd let the staff have blowdarts, to shoot out the tires of these crooks.
Thursday evening was a time for some running of my own, on the Columbus Riverwalk. As I passed the wood-bench amphitheater near Sixth Street, I was surprised to find trash cans filled with ten CiCi's Pizza boxes. You can always tell where the Miss Georgia contestants eat dinner....
As I cooled down after the run, I walked along Fourth Street and was surprised again. An official "South Atlantic League" baseball was sitting on the grass along the wall of Villa Nova - across the four-lane highway from Golden Park! Either someone hit a huge home run, or a city official was really upset to learn the Waves are negotiating with a city in Ohio.
BLOG UPDATE: While I stood on the new bridge, I noticed the Heritage Inn on Veterans Parkway finally has fixed its sign on the roof - and is spelling "America" correctly. (22 Feb) Even more amazingly, they kept the spelling of "Inn" with two N's.
BIG PREDICTION UPDATE: Well, whaddaya know - Miss Albany won a preliminary event Wednesday night at the Miss Georgia pageant. Not braggin' here, simply reporting....