Keep the McBride Viaduct!

Erie CPR -- Connect Plus Respect -- is fighting to save the McBride Viaduct, a bridge that connects the struggling African American community with the part of the city that lies to west.  This bridge was built over the train tracks after a child was killed.  It has been an important connector for decades, but is need of repairs.  Instead of fixing this venerable piece of infrastructure, the city has proposed that it be torn down.  This will re-create high risk for pedestrians that the bridge was built to eliminate.  Furthermore, fixing the bridge is not a more expensive proposition and has the benefit that it can create local jobs.  This repair, above all, presents an opportunity to expand job opportunities in the local area, thus pouring the repair money into the city's economy.

I had the chance to visit Erie two years ago.  I saw the Viaduct and the alternative, which is terrible.  I got to appreciate the complex disconnect in Erie, which CPR is fighting.  Erie, like many American cities, is struggling to find its way.  The McBride Viaduct becomes a metaphor for the question facing all of us: will we spend our money to further divide and endanger ourselves? Or will we look again at the possibilities that might strengthen connections while pouring money into our communities?

Erie, as I write this, is digging out from record snow and not yet thinking about the big questions that will face them as they inaugurate a new mayor.  Good luck with the snow, Erie, and save the Viaduct!