LETTERS: KEEPING PART OF BRIDGE WOULD BE COSTLY

To the editor:

My wife an I live next to the Mississippi River bridge, and I would like to elaborate on the Sept. 1 story about the bridge. When we were buying our house, we checked with the Missouri highway department and the city. The highway department said the law for funding new bridges requires the old bridge to be completely removed. In order for any part to be left intact, the city would have to accept all maintenance and liability costs. At that time, the city was not willing to accept such a cost to be borne by the taxpayers.

The only portion the highway department was interested in saving in some fashion was the arch near the beginning of the ramp, which could be placed in a park or on the seminary grounds in order to provide safer, easier access by tourists.

If part of the bridge is retained, maintenance costs would include weekly mowing of a small area, painting, concrete patching of the pillars and understructure as needed, asphalt repair of the platform, monthly utility bills for lighting, more frequent patrols by police to assure safety, and liability insurance. Liability insurance is a wild card. The lookout might be an attractive suicide leap, which would be costly to the city in monetary terms and in reputation. We taxpayers would be asked to cover these costs.

In addition, the slope of the ramp is thought to exceed the degree allowable under the Americans With Disabilities Act. It is possible that the additional cost to install and maintain an elevator would be required to meet this federal law. The cost of making structures handicapped accessible was one factor in the decision by the Cape Girardeau Board of Education to sell the May Greene and Washington elementary school buildings.

The bridge structure presently is a collection point for refuse, graffiti and loitering, even with no-parking signs. The seminary grounds already overlook the river, so an old ramp is an unnecessary cost. Removing this structure will be a positive step toward cleaning up the area, controlling taxes and helping the city have a better historic section to market to tourists.

CLIFF SHIRRELL

Cape Girardeau