The proposed bridge/park is a terrible idea
After reading the article about the proposed pedestrian park over I-579 (Dec. 4, “Multimillion-Dollar Connection”), I am compelled to write again. Back in 2011 when the former Civic Arena was still intact, this ridiculous proposal to build a park over Crosstown Boulevard began to surface as a necessary feature to justify destruction of the arena and all the proposed development on the arena site. I was astonished back then that the designers had the nerve to show the park in all the renderings, way before any design or feasibility was conducted. Now it appears there is no turning back.
There are so many reasons why this is not the right place to spend limited taxpayer funds. I’ll give you just one: Allegheny County has hundreds and hundreds of bridges and roads in deplorable, dangerous condition and yet we’re willing to build a brand new bridge topped with millions of dollars of landscaping and not one but three “performance venues” that will surely need a major overhaul in 20 to 30 years. The Penguins-led development team has come up way short over the past seven years, and I can see no reason why we should even consider wasting money on this project before even one shovel is turned on the real site development needs like housing.
I am sick of hearing about how we must “reconnect” the Hill with Downtown. Guess what? It’s uphill from town to the Hill District and no $27 million park is going to change that. Penguins fans seem to have no trouble navigating sidewalks (how old school) between Downtown and hockey games. Relevant leaders: Please take action and suspend the design contracts immediately and trade your TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant funds for something we actually need. THOMAS O. GRAY O’Hara experiences. What a cynical, comical twist. Suddenly, my anti-LGBT, anti-choice, anti-immigration representative is socially conscious? No sale.
Let’s hope this national embarrassment finally spurs the state’s Republican Party to show Mr. Metcalfe the door. If not, can someone put him in touch with HR? He’s overdue for some coaching. MAUREEN BYKO
Cranberry
As we approach the oneyear point in the Trump presidency, a majority of Americans are increasingly angry that he is so intent on destroying our country by any and every means he can. Impeachment couldn’t come soon enough, but I fear it would already be too late.
For me, the tax bill is the final straw to precipitate this letter. Our prevaricator in chief couldn’t persuade Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare, so, collaterally to the tax bill, it will be torpedoed with no replacement in sight (with repeal of the individual mandate). We suffer increased wildfires and storms, but he continues to deny science and pulls us out of the Paris accord. The list seems endless.
I predict that Donald Trump will be the downfall of America.
If it is illegal to shout “fire” in a crowded theater because of the harm it would cause, then why is it legal for Fox, Rush Limbaugh and their unscrupulous colleagues to spew their partisan lies, destroying a whole country instead of just a theater? How could so many people have allowed themselves
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to be snookered into thinking Hillary Clinton was the liar of the two? Can we ever “Make America Think Again”? Or is it already too late with so much misinformation out there?
The tax bill is a giveaway to the rich and will add more than a trillion dollars to the deficit. Do I hear ruminations about going after Social Security and Medicare to pay that down? It’s becoming ever more clear that the tax cuts never intended to pay for themselves in economic growth. It was your retirement programs they were after all the time!
Reverse Robin Hood all the way. What ever happened to the proverbial “American dream”? I’m glad I’m old. AL DUERIG Greensburg