Week in Comments: Controversy Surrounds Building a Bridge for New Library

Our readers had a lot to say this week; the comments mainly surrounded the hot topic of the new Silver Spring Library and whether a bridge should be built. We wrote an article  about how the value of the bridge was being debated at the recent Silver Spring Advisory Board Meeting and readers wrote in their perspective on the issue. Here is what they had to say: 

Jag writes: 

"I may not patronize the [Silver Spring] library if I have to traverse so much ground to get there." Is that a freaking joke? How is there more ground to "traverse" if you walk 50 feet across a street on ground level v. 50 feet across the street through the sky??? This is the worst waste of $700K I've ever seen considered. Just let it die already.

Raynem writes: 

No -- don't let it die. For a lot of people who now use the library, a link from parking to the library is important and could very well mean the difference between using the new library or not, even if you don't want to believe that. And, by the way, the distance is a good bit more than 50 feet. Check it out for yourself.

Jag writes: 

I, like tens of thousands of other people, actually live in DTSS so yes, I know how far it is from Wayne Ave. garage to the library site...it's across the street. A "link" between the two through the sky to the tune of $700K is a hilarious joke at best and completely destructive to the urban environment at worst (especially for people who live nearby and would have the bridge to nowhere outside their window). There's zero chance this passes the council, but the fact Ervin brought it back up for debate pisses me off beyond belief. If having to walk across the street on ground level v. through the sky is too much of a burden for you then I, rightfully, don't give a crap about your pissant needs.

Woodside Park Bob writes:

Yes, the new library is just across the street from the parking garage -- as the crow flies. But the handicapped, people with heavy book bags and small children, and anyone who doesn't want to be hit by a car or a bus while crossing 5 lanes of traffic on Wayne Avenue, won't want to take the short "as the crow flies" route. Instead they'll have to go half a block to the corner of Wayne and Fenton, then cross the 5 lanes of Wayne while looking out for cars turning right or left, and then walk back to the library entrance. And they may have to dodge Purple Line trains, too. That's simply not going to work for the handicapped, the elderly, people with small children, and just about anybody else when the temperature is 20 degrees, the wind is blowing, and there is a lot of snow. So, if we don't build the bridge, we will have spent a lot of money building a great new library that many people will chose not to use (or simply not be physically able to use). The bridge is especially important for access since the new library will house one of the county's two handicapped resources centers. 

The bridge won't just benefit library users. Many Fenton Village merchants have signed petitions supporting the bridge because they know it will benefit them by increasing access to their stores from the parking garage and also attract library users to visit their stores when they come to the library.

Not spending the $700,000 to build the bridge would be shortsighted.

Jag writes: 

Woodside, assuming you know which side of the Wayne garage to park on, it is literally a few yards to the wayne/fenton intersection and then the entrance to the library is literally at that opposite corner. It's about as close to "as the crow flies" as life gets. And the purple line doesn't cut through the crosswalk, so I think you're probably just confused about the site plan in general. I agree that the intersection could use some traffic calming measures to ensure it's as pleasant as we can possibly make it in this auto-centric area (the real issue here), so spend $50K doing that and help all people using the library instead of $700K on a retro eyesore like a skybridge.

"Many Fenton Village merchants have signed petitions supporting the bridge because they know it will benefit them by increasing access to their stores from the parking garage and also attract library users to visit their stores when they come to the library." - That makes zero sense on any level whatsoever and I'm pretty sure you know that. Increasing access to their stores? Seriously? So all of a sudden being elderly and having small kids means you can't walk across the street at ground level, but you will feel inclined to walk around the surrounding blocks, so long as you get to walk through the sky first? Come on.