Damn lucky… so far

To the editor:

I still remember clattering across the Pond Eddy Bridge for the first time some 20 years ago. The house was so newly on the market the real estate broker didn’t even have a key. I told her it didn’t matter, it wasn’t on the market anymore as it was sold—to me. I fell immediately in love with the river and its wildness. The sun set across it, and sunrise popped up over the mountain behind. And, not least, a humungous willow tree stood like a monument in its yard. I’ve always felt more the honored caretaker than owner of that wonderful bit of heaven on earth.

Our charming, rickety old bridge has continued to deteriorate these 20 years. By now, however, its historic grandeur and nostalgic appeal has been obliterated by the fact it scares me every time I drive over it. It is impossible to ignore the clear and present danger if you live here. For over 20 years now, we have not been able to get an ambulance. Nor a fire truck. Since our oil truck will no longer deliver, I sometimes carry up to 40 gallons of kerosene in my car on public roads to my home. Someday, sometime, I’m sorry, but something is going to happen. On top of that is the ongoing aggravation of roads that are car-eaters since the needed maintenance equipment cannot get here.

Those who block the new bridge due to scenic concerns or red-tape foot-dragging should try living here. At a time in our country’s history where we have a great deal of fear about the future, my own terror is that this situation will not be resolved before some tragic accident makes us greatly regret the outrageous amount of time we have had to correct the situation and did not do it.

A loss of character

To the editor:

In regards to the imminent destruction of the current Pond Eddy Bridge and its replacement, I have but a few words. One has only to look at the new bridge in Barryville to see what is coming, a nondescript highway overpass over the Delaware River. The bridge, like the one in Barryville that is gone, was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair by the very same people that now say it needs to be replaced. They have used their own neglect to justify a project which was unnecessary. If the aesthetic charm of this region is continually undermined by those who cannot see that the biggest asset of this area is its natural beauty, then we will all suffer. How long must progressive minds in the area have to wait till the entrenched powers of the old guard that control the politics of the Upper Delaware region give up their stranglehold on the area? Hopefully, they will not ruin this area as their final legacy to a dying view of the earth and its natural resources. One can only be grateful that the Roebling Bridge is landmarked. The future is unwritten.

Nikolai Klein

Cost no object?

To the editor:

In reference to “Pond Eddy Bridge to be replaced” (April 23-29, 2009), our membership wished to point out that the most notable omission from the recent PennDOT public meeting is the fact that their latest cost estimate is now $16 million: this to replace a National Landmark Bridge that connects a one-lane road that can never be widened. It will serve only 26 land parcels totaling about 16 houses, or approximately $ 1 million per house. PennDOT still doesn’t admit that, with rehabilitation, the bridge could function as well as ones in most of the region, with a much lower cost. It is no wonder that the Friends of the Pond Eddy Bridge have been joined in our objections by the Preservation League of New York State, Preservation Pennsylvania, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Historic Bridge Foundation and the Upper Delaware Preservation Coalition.

Sound the alarm (or not)

To the editor:

Congress is currently debating global warming and cap and trade taxation. I have stood against cap and trade in the past and have been a non-believer in global warming for many years.

But the events of the past week have me convinced that it is happening, and we need to do something now. Here are the facts. On Thursday, the temperature was about 49 degrees. On Friday, the temperature was about 70 degrees. On Saturday, the temperature was about 83 degrees. This increase of about 34 degrees over the course of three days is alarming. If this continues at its current rate, the temperature at the end of August will be over 1,400 degrees. We must act now to prevent this crisis. Congress, please listen to Al Gore and stop this coming catastrophe. He is the only one with the answer. But, I fear that it may already be too late to reverse this trend and we all will probably be dead by summer’s end.