Melee at the Mill: City Club hosts Luncheon on the Third Bridge

Tomorrow, Friday the 8th, the Salem City Club holds its third "Grassroots Ideas" luncheon and presentation:

City Club to Consider Bridge and Highway

So far anyway, City Council's work sessions have been one-sided presentations by project staff with a bias toward big built outcomes. Council's public hearings with their three-minute limits are more civic theater than organized debate, and lack a true give-and-take with informed proponents and critics. Their primary aim is rarely truth or the best policy choice.  So will this finally be a true debate on the bridge?

The City Club tees it up:

Any serious discussion of Salem’s transportation needs must consider the Third Bridge issue, the so called SRC or Salem River Crossing. To build or not to build? That is the question, and has been for the past 40 years.

Join us Friday, February 8th at noon when we will host a four person panel consisting of state, county and city professionals who will share their opinions and expertise about this ongoing concept. As we continue with our transportation series, the February 8 session will be reviewing the history of the SRC, the population and economic growth that continues to drive the discussion, and the 8 design alternatives currently seen as options. Adding more fuel to the debate is rush hour traffic congestion at the bridges and a perceived need for a Salem bypass to the West Valley.

Scott Bassett from No Third Bridge will present the critique. City Councilor Dan Clem, Transportation Planners and SRC Project staff Mike Jaffe and Julie Warncke will boost for the bridge.

It's too late to RSVP for lunch, but non-members can attend for $5.00.  The presentation starts at 11:30 at Mission Mill.

Here's a fanfare for every bridge booster's fantasy: A Short Ride in a Fast Machine. This is the New England Conservatory. The San Francisco Symphony's recent recording even features the Golden Gate Bridge!