Quote:
Originally Posted by JiriHrdina
Part of it is the timing of it. This bridge came as city hall delivered a bloated budget and raised taxes. The message being sent to the public continues to be - we can't control our spending. Examples:
- The Bridge
- The artwork at the water treatment facility
- The purchase of the Cecil
- The gym at City Hall.
When forced to trim the budget City Hall merely moved cash around in the books to manufacture a decrease.
Again - the bridge is not the issue - it's just the issue people have issued to focus on the larger problem of overspending....at a time when the economy isn't good at all.
If this council could demonstrate an ability to set priorities, and manage a budget I wouldn't have a problem with this bridge.
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But this bridge isn't in their budget. It's part of provincial money and is being spent at a time where the government is looking for stimulus infrastructure spending. The province would really have to hate this project to not build it right now.
If the province spent 30 million dollars to add drab pedestrian lanes to the center street underbridge, there wouldn't be anywhere near as much fuss. Even though the project would offer a fraction of the benefit and cost more money. As long as it doesn't stick out, people would be happy to ignore it.
Bottom line, times are tough, and people can't get past the optics of a flashy bridge from some artsy designer architect. Painting it red just makes matters worse. It's so not conservative, and so not Calgary. It must be a huge waste of money.
This thing isn't so much of a bridge as a giant soapbox.