"A Bridges Reality Check," by Steve Wiser at The 'Ville Voice."

Big thanks to Jake at The 'Ville Voice for publishing this timely essay by Steve Wiser. Visit Wiser's website for more.

A Bridges Reality Check: Jobs, Safety, Traffic

“Jobs – Safety – Traffic” are the three primary reasons featured in a television commercial promoting construction of the $4.1 billion dollar Ohio River Bridges Project (ORBP). As with any ad campaign, the information presented is favorably presented toward building a new downtown bridge, rebuilt Spaghetti Junction, and a new East End Bridge. What this ad doesn’t tell you is that tolls are proposed on all the bridges (new and existing), as well as possibly Spaghetti Junction, to pay for all of this. And, this ad only tells you one side of this debate.

Before tolls culturally divide this community in half, and serve as obstacles to its future success, let’s look at the ORBP’s two-bridge rationale as presented in their ad campaign.