Bridge to Something

Oh, that City of Fairmont is a smart one. As part of the Riverfront Development Project, the City is going to build a pedestrian bridge on what used to be the Low Level Bridge. The project will accomodate walkers and bikers who would like to cross the Monongahela River. Five years after the plan was initially hatched, a $200,000 West Virginia Transporation grant was awarded to the city to begin the project.

Not to knock the idea, but wouldn't it be great if there was actually a reason to cross the bridge? Wouldn't it be nice to have something near the river the east and west side of the river that would make people want to get to the other side? Is this another "if you build it, they will come" project? I'm not sure that building a bridge is going to motivate anyone to build near the river. I just think the money would be more wisely spent developing the riverfront first and then worrying about a new bridge. There is already ways to cross the river...there's just no reason to cross it. But, hey, once that waterpark is open and the minor league baseball team starts play, we may need that pedestrian bridge.