Uploaded on 2014-10-17 by Swidersa

In my community in Upstate New York called Binghamton there is a former bridge for vehicles. It's construction is too narrow for modern vehicles. The pain that you see is from many decades ago. Today this bridge is for pedestrian use only, the city was right to keep this piece of infrastructure to allow residents to walk from one half of the city to the other, a trip that would be as much as 20 minutes longer or require a vehicle to drive to another bridge and therefore increase traffic congestion. Architecturally the bridge has historic value in it's design and construction. Local images promoting the area often involve this bridge. Invisible Information: 1. Crime: This bridge also divides wealth. One side of the bridge, the north side, is a downtown district with brand new student housing, an arena, and even a local university off-campus building. The south side is a disadvantaged section of town with many section 8 residences. Students or sports fans often park on the south side because they are attracted by the free parking that is not available on the north side. As a result, there have been many muggings as residents return to their vehicles at night. Planning: Lighting is in use on the bridge, improved LED lights may help the community save money on bills and also allow for more lights to further deter crime. Also the addition of a panic button might be able to alert authorities to crimes as they happen. Removing some tress from the banks on the south side of the bridge would also increase visibility. 2. Lack of public attention: There are a few public events that use this space for recreation. Most people use it simply to reach from point A to point B. During warmer months, this bridge serves as a gathering place for events including a local blues festival. Otherwise, this bridge see's too little traffic. Planning: Increasingly the city of Binghamton is having issues with parking. The construction of a parking ramp on the south side of the bridge would encourage commuters to use the bridge to walk to events or business in the downtown section. There also has been new development occurring on the south side with increased amounts of facade improvements as the community improves, more parking will be necessary. By increasing foot traffic, the city would be able to allow the use of temporary commercial permits such as food trucks to help pay the cost of maintenance. Reaching out to a non-profit might also be useful for making necessary repairs to the bridge since many of the steel beams are beginning to show rust and the wooden walkway is showing it's age. [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14135648348033456.jpg