Lay Lake Topics: New Bridge

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	Name:	Martins Cove -
	Subject:	New Bridge
	Date:	10/25/2005 1:40:20 AM

Look, it's real simple. This bridge isn't making any one, save Mr. Pursell, rich. I live in Alabaster and to tend to my business, my side business, it is 63 miles each direction, door to door. This bridge would cut out approx. 30 miles of that trip. I also have people who stay with us that come from points South. This bridge cuts off approximately 30 miles of travel for them as well. Your assertion that it saves 5 minutes on County roads is, at best, a gross understatement. I've also got some more news for you. The fertilizer trucks are ALREADY crossing Lay Lake on US 280. This bridge is not a convenient shortcut, down county roads, for those trucks because they have a federal highway they are already using and it is quicker than this proposed route.

Far away IS a good thing, but 20 miles from any where is a bit of a struggle for anyone. My regular complaint from guests is "jeez, if I'd known it was this far, I'd have packed a lunch". They ALL ask "Isn't there a shorter/quicker way there?"
As for your assertion to the haves and the have nots, it would seem to me that the Shelby residents are the haves and the Talladega/Coosa residents are currently the have nots. They have raised the money for a bridge but Shelby doesn't want them to have the opportunities a bridge would provide.

I guess it would be more likely, using your logic, that a truck would wreck on a 35 mph, 2 lane toll bridge than on a bridge, 20 miles upstream thus causing even more ecological damage if a spill were to occour, that is 4 lanes and 65 mph.

Why not help get our archaic state constitution re-written so that Counties can have home rule AND could impose and enforce zoning. This would allow the foresight you speak of to occour through PLANNED development instead of wild-west land grabs for trailer space as is occouring right now. My deed has covenants that restrict buildings to 1700 sf or larger and only 1 per lot (approx 1 acre per lot). Why not encourage this type of restrictions from developers then the bridge becomes a moot point of simple access for those who need it to their uncrowded properties?
Like I said, it's real simple. Give the access but plan for and restrict the development. It's a workable compromise that protects the lake but allows economic growth. Every one wins. Lake property, if you haven't noticed, is a HOT commodity throughout the US. There is also a housing bubble that, according to Greenspan, isn't such a bubble after all. This translates into every one's property values increasing along the lake albeit some more than others because of a lack of easy access. The Cahaba river has a bridge every 2-3 miles. Lay has one every 50 miles. Where's the logic in that? It's not roads that destroy habitat and streams, it's the increased, virtually unregulated development. Your approach is "don't give 'em the road so they can't get there and maybe they won't develop". My approach is to enact barriers that limit growth to a reasonable rate, thus providing a reasonable solution for every one involved.

I guess there will always be those like you that just oppose change in general and that's unfortunate. A friend once told me, and i believe it to be very true, that "on this earth the only constant is change itself".

Contender, I guess it's ok that you decided to take up space along the river but it's, according to your arguments, not a good thing when others want to do the same as you did, just on the other side. The day you can tell me that you have to drive, literally, 20 miles, 2 of which are pure dirt, to the nearest grocery store is the day I'll accept that it's just 5 more minutes that we'll be saving. Lifesaver helicopter is the best medical care we can hope for because the Alexander City hospital isn't exactly a level 1 trauma center. Ic ould go on, but I would hope you get the point by now.
A bridge is needed. It's not just a convenience for the so-called rich, it's a community and economic lifeline for those of us on the other side of the river.

URL: stuck in bridge purgatory