I'll bet that part of the article by the Bfd "Error" about the savings being spent on curbing and landscaping for Elm St really meant that it will be spent on Sarah's Elm Street Project. Which is nowhere near Elm Street, Bfd.

LOL! I wonder if *somebody* could write a grant for an Elm Street project for ELM STREET!

Are you saying she can't take the money she asked for for her Elm Street project and USE it for Elm Street? ...... Only in Bradford! ELM STREET really does need some attention!

Are you making things up again? The savings for the change order at the public meeting I attended last night was around $17,000. It is being funded with grant money, not with local property tax dollars. The savings are not being used in the Elm Street neighborhood. They will be used in the bridge area. Don't believe everything you read?

Would critics of the bridge like Stony and Citizen rather some other town or city gotten the money? If the grant money is available why shouldn't Bradford try to get it?

Mr. Riel, with all due respect. This sounds so "Simpsonesque" "if we don't get it Shelbyville will".

Here's my opinion, as a person who also pays federal taxes. Bradford shouldn't get hundreds of thousands of dollars for un-needed bridges, nor should Shelbyville, or any other town for that matter.

Our elected politicians and officials SHOULD see that instead of un-needed, stupid, overpriced, projects, the grant money that IS available, can be used for, or funneled to REASONABLE projects that the city does need money for.

What do you think outsiders think of us building a 300K walking bridge between two existing bridges a half block apart? BOTH having pedestrian sidewalks on them?

Although you choose to single Citizen and I out, since this thread started, JeffT, Cornfunkle, Phantom, ChipperB and Neo, have also criticized the high price of this bridge.

I stand by my assertions. 1. The bridge was not needed. And 2. the price to rebuild the bridge or to simply put a deck on it, is unreasonably high.

Some of my early posts show a bridge that many people walk over in Bradford that IS a danger to the citizens using it. Maybe we need to fire the grant writers!

We DO have serious infrastructure needs in Bradford!

Amen! to that Stony.I wonder if "Shelbyvilles" Mayor would reply in such a condescending tone on every subject as well.Lets see..."Bridge to nowhere"..check.."High Price Privatized Ghetto Housing 500 ft. from Low Price Public Ghetto Housing"...check.."Fancy light post and new sidewalks on one way streets"..check check and a "Project named after a street (Which needs repair to its sidewalks and a bridge replacement)but isnt included in said "Project" .check....You know what? I shall pour myself a glass of "kool-aid" and chug away.It would be safer than smoking the crack that certain elected officials"may" be consuming". At Least that would explain why the Buffalo Thugsters still have the confidence to do what they do with minimal consequences.Sorry the kool-aid has me buzzin' my Black a** off

Great post Blk person! You need to post more on here! LOL!

BrdlkPerson wrote

"Amen! to that Stony.I wonder if "Shelbyvilles" Mayor would reply in such a condescending tone on every subject as well.Lets see..."Bridge to nowhere"..check.."High Price Privatized Ghetto Housing 500 ft. from Low Price Public Ghetto Housing"...check.."Fancy light post and new sidewalks on one way streets"..check check and a "Project named after a street (Which needs repair to its sidewalks and a bridge replacement)but isnt included in said "Project" .check....You know what? I shall pour myself a glass of "kool-aid" and chug away.It would be safer than smoking the crack that certain elected officials"may" be consuming". At Least that would explain why the Buffalo Thugsters still have the confidence to do what they do with minimal consequences.Sorry the kool-aid has me buzzin' my Black a** off"


Oh My God... BrdBlkPerson has me laughing my white a** off!!! BTW, if the mayor would have looked a little closer, he might have saw that i corrected my math on the very next post.

Ahhhh! GRANT MONEY! Why, that's like FREE money, right?

this whole bridge project reminds of the Southpark episode, where Cartman and his friends were building a ladder to reach Kenny in Heaven.

Actually in retrospect mayor, thank you for helping to make my point, by berating me for my mistake. You would think with beams already in place, that you could build a pretty nice footbridge with $17,000.00 alone..

To further make my point, a non-profit club that i was involved with completely re decked a decommisioned railroad bridge at what is now the Tuna valley trail south at Browntown. We did it in one day at a total cost of zero dollars with volunteer labor and donated materials. It was at least as long, and easily twice as wide as the Pine street Pagoda.

Was I the only one to read: "Andrews added that they will be adding curbing, which was not in the original plan. She said there will probably be another change order that could add some cost to the project, but they are still looking at ways to save".

While the Mayor and Citizen argue over a $17K savings, the project may end up costing the same or perhaps MORE than the $300,000.00!

That might not really end up a 17K savings, but rather a very temporary variance in the cost. THAT and more may disappear, before all is said and done.

In MY HUMBLE OPINION, from reading the article on WESB, it's way too pre-mature to brag about a $17k savings.

It's STILL a BRIDGE TO NOWHERE, despite a very small, almost insignificant, savings!

As far as decking the structure cheaply, as they should have done or could have done .... Look at the bridges out at Marilla on the White Pine Trail!

The "Big Bridge" on the White Pine Trail was built nearly single-handedly, for about .001% or less of the cost of this nightmare!

PS- I love the "shopping cart accessible ramp"!

I can't believe as Mayor of a small city that you, Tom Riel, just said this. If there are cities or towns out there that seriously need the money more than Bradford does to fix the "Bridge to Nowhere" then those other places should have it. I just can't believe how ignorant you sound with responses like this.