Published: April 29, 2009 09:55 pm      

Bridge debate lingers

EDMOND — The proposed pedestrian bridge and new parking for the south side of West Edmond Road took a back seat Monday night after the Edmond City Council decided to wait before bidding out the project.

Two city councilmen point blank said they like the concept, but that the timing for the $1.2 million project is not right. Mayor-elect Patrice Douglas has called for the city to evaluate its priorities in these tougher economic times. She feels roads and other infrastructure should be higher on the list.

We agree with Douglas and councilmen Charles Lamb and David Miller — there is much work left to be done before the city should go out to bid on this particular project.

One of the mysteries of this whole debate has been why try to bid out a project when there is not even a site plan approved by the City Council yet. The funding for the pedestrian bridge has been discussed and voted on by the Central Edmond Urban Development Board and the Capital Projects and Financing Task Force. The City Council has discussed it a couple of times, but the city has yet to actually take the issue through the full site plan process as it has done with other projects such as the Cross Timbers Municipal Complex.

If city leaders want this project to go through, then they need to follow the process that everyone else is held accountable for completing.

But that is not the most important issue highlighted by the bridge debate. What this discussion really has brought to light is that it’s time for a master plan update for the downtown area. The current plan is 11 years old and a lot has changed in Edmond since 1998.

It’s time to consider what aspects the 1998 master plan was correct about, where it went astray and what new priorities face today’s residents as they consider how to propel downtown into the future. The pedestrian bridge eventually may turn into a bridge to the future, but a lot of groundwork remains to be accomplished to get there. In the meantime, a better use of city staff’s time and city dollars could be in helping synthesize a new master plan so everyone can see where the proposed bridge fits into the downtown’s other needs.



LET US KNOW what you think should be the new priorities for the downtown’s next 10 years. Write to us at news@edmond-sun.com. Please remember to include your full name, address and daytime phone number for verification purposes.