The Washington City Council has elected to spend up to $820,000 to replace the crumbling Brown Street bridge.
This project is not an ideal use of taxpayer money, especially in this era of tight-as-tick budgets.
While we sympathize with some residents’ calls for the city to replace the bridge, it appears the span serves too few people to justify the huge expenditure authorized by the council.
The city might have been better off proceeding with a cost-effective demolition of the existing structure, replacing it with a far-less-expensive footbridge across Jack’s Creek. The footbridge would have provided pedestrian access to Veterans Memorial Park and adjacent green space.
At present, it’s hard to understand who would get more use out of the new bridge — the ducks and geese that frequent the park or the handful of people who live in nearby neighborhoods.
Let’s hope that, in future, the council takes more careful consideration before launching large-scale spending initiatives of this type, especially while our economic woes endure.