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

17 Million Dollars to Be Spent on Pedestrian Bridge is Needed for More Important Things

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.