Wednesday, 9.15.04: Bridge Begone
We
live near a beautiful stream, a small tributary of Lake Ontario that
empties into a long bay dug by an ice-age glacier. When the lake is
already high and the water can't move fast enough, Irondequoit Creek
floods. Much of the creek flows through
Ellison Park or wild wetlands, but right here some geniuses decided to
build townhouses and a shopping plaza.
Every time there's a flood, the Town-County-State promises us some kind of flood control. Then maybe a few greens squawk that the fish will be upset and the talks trail off.
Meanwhile Old Penfield Road is getting a new bridge. The old road parallels the new one. There are a few houses on the upper half and a big dolomite quarry, whose trucks exit to the new road uphill. So the lower half is wild. There used to be a quaint little one-lane bridge between this wildness and our overbuilt part of the valley. It was deemed unsafe, torn down, and now a big two-lane bridge is planned. It's totally unnecessary, unless the dolomite people lobbied to get a downhill route for their big trucks.
Anyway, as I surveyed the ruinous flood, I decided to write a letter to the editor of the Penfield Post. Here's what I said:
I'm a resident of Penfield's Panorama Plaza area, which was flooded
yesterday. Flood control is promised but never materializes. The new
bridge going up on Old Penfield Road will guarantee that no rethinking
of the current landscape will ever be done. My suggestion: abandon the
bridge plans and abandon the lower half of Old Penfield Road back to
nature. There is no credible reason to install a two-lane bridge on that
quiet old road. Instead, use the money to build up an earthen flood
control embankment along the eastern side of Irondequoit Creek along
this flood plain. Better a recreation area than more pavement, more
flooding and more
hardship.
Maybe the mayor will read it. Maybe our county legislator will read it. A new bridge is not progress. Returning a chunk of land to nature will be.
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