THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995             TAG: 9509220206
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS      PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   36 lines

BRIDGE IS DOWN GET ON WITH PROJECT

The premature destruction of Leckie Street Bridge puts a heavy burden on the city to move quickly to reconfigure the area around the old Elks Lodge.

Although the bridge had been closed to automobiles for several years, it still served as a vital link between Churchland and Downtown for bicyclists, enabling them to avoid the traffic on London Boulevard.

Many citizens, including cyclists, asked that the bridge be left in place until somebody had concrete plans for dredging the creek and developing a marina on London Boulevard at the Elks property. A poll of residents of Park View and West Park View, backing up the requests by the cyclists, indicated that a majority of residents wanted the bridge to stay in place until there was an economic development reason to remove it.

Consultants paid by the city had suggested that part of the bridge be left in place to create a place where people could walk over the water and watch the birds.

However, the city ignored the cyclists. It ignored the residents. It ignored the consultants and it took out the entire bridge, leaving no place for bird-watching. Now it has a duty to move as quickly as possible to create the new entrances into West Park View and Shea Terrace off London Boulevard as proposed in the Vision 2005 plan. That would create green space in the area, which would serve as a bicycle path and keep the cyclists out of the lanes of traffic. by CNB