Opinion
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Davidson leader dedicated to replacing aging bridge
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Published: September 21, 2008
Max Walser becomes "Mad Max" when he starts talking about the decaying bridge that carries Interstate 85 over the Yadkin River.
"At least once a month I go across that bridge and I hope and pray that I'm not going to have a big 18 wheeler with me," Walser told me last week. "It's not something I enjoy. Nobody else does, either."
You can't blame Walser, a Davidson County commissioner and former Davidson County school superintendent, for getting frustrated with the long lag in nailing down the money to replace the bridge.
The narrow concrete bridge between Davidson and Rowan counties, rated the 11th worst in the state by AAA Carolinas, rattles when you cross it. It was built back when Eisenhower was president. Tens of millions of cars and trucks have roared across it since then. Up to 60,000 vehicles cross it daily.
State officials know it needs replacing, but they stress that it's not in any danger of collapsing.
Walser, who's spent much of his life driving over that bridge, is not so sure. He doesn't want to be an alarmist, he said. "I have no reason to believe that bridge is going to collapse tomorrow, " he said. "What I do know is the people in Minneapolis had no clue their bridge would collapse either. They knew it was an old bridge, just like we know this one is an old bridge."
A year ago last month, Minneapolis' Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed during rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring nearly 100 others.
Walser has helped lead a push to replace the Yadkin River bridge, enlisting many others in the effort. He and others have been to Washington, lobbying senators and congressmen from North Carolina for as much as $50 million in federal money to help in replacing the bridge. The total cost could be as much as $450 million. In addition to replacing the bridge, the project would include widening a nearly 7-mile stretch of the interstate, and replacing the nearby bridge that carries U.S. 29/70 over the river.
The money to replace the bridge is all but impossible to come by.
The state doesn't have the money. The N.C. Turnpike Authority has suggested that the bridge could be paid for by charging a toll to cross it. But toll roads of any kind are not the answer. They slow traffic, increase accidents and amount to double taxation, since the North Carolina gas tax is supposed to be paying for our roads and bridges.
Fortunately, leaders in Davidson and Rowan County realize that. Several of them have come out against the idea of a toll, and would like to see the bridge job placed on a statewide transportation bond referendum with other projects around the state. "The word's out there that we really support a bond issue, and I think that's probably the answer," Walser said.
Walser doesn't want a toll bridge. But if the bond referendum wouldn't work, he doesn't want to close his mind to any option.
That bond referendum would be for as much as $5 billion. If Rep. Hugh Holliman of Davidson County, a bond supporter, could help persuade his fellow legislators to approve such a referendum, it could be placed on ballots by November 2009.
Some legislators, especially ones from areas without projects on the bond proposal, might be reluctant to approve such a referendum. But, at least in the case of the Yadkin River bridge on Interstate 85, the need is urgent. A bond referendum may be the only logical way to get the money. If anybody else has any better ideas, he or she needs to come forward quickly.
Replacing the Yadkin River bridge has been talked about for years. The time has come for action -- before that bridge gets in even worse shape.
"I have no reason to believe the bridge is going to fall down, but I know it's old and it's worn out," Walser said.
■ John Railey writes editorials for the Journal. He can be reached at jrailey@wsjournal.com.
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