Comments on: The Chester River Bridge https://chestertownspy.org/2018/01/15/the-chester-river-bridge/ Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown Thu, 23 Aug 2018 12:09:29 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 By: Walter Belfrey https://chestertownspy.org/2018/01/15/the-chester-river-bridge/#comment-683060 Thu, 23 Aug 2018 12:09:29 +0000 https://cs.communitynewspaperproject.org/?p=112121#comment-683060 As residents of Kingstown, we cross the bridge regularly by both bike and car. If you’ve never walked over the bridge, or taken a bike, I encourage you to do so. What a view; and the pace is very enjoyable!

My comment, why can’t the topsides of the bridge be painted? I recall the guardrails being sandblasted / stripped / repainted a few years back; however the concrete is awful! Peeling, stained and otherwise an eyesore. I know some local folks who would gladly offer time (and even a few dollars) towards painting the concrete.

If this bridge is the “gateway” to Chestertown from the QA side, and we have visitors, prospective College students and their parents etc. considering spending $$ in Chestertown; doesn’t it make sense to paint the bridge? We are excited and thrilled that the marina “district” is getting well deserved attention. Next on the list should be the Bridge. My (and other’s) 2.5 cents.

]]> By: Lance Kounitz https://chestertownspy.org/2018/01/15/the-chester-river-bridge/#comment-681328 Fri, 01 Jun 2018 16:30:15 +0000 https://cs.communitynewspaperproject.org/?p=112121#comment-681328 In reply to Bill Anderson.

“Build it and they will come” as they say. If private sector jobs can be created it is wise to think to the future regarding growth and economic stability for Chestertown. It will foster job seekers to fill those jobs which in turn will support an ever widening array of associated businesses. My wife and I have considered Chestertown for retirement but we both lamented on how little seems to be happening there as far as private sector business development. Diversity begets diversity which could promise increased cash flow into your town. Plan properly but be welcoming to growth which will benefit all…

]]> By: Eleanor Altman https://chestertownspy.org/2018/01/15/the-chester-river-bridge/#comment-667919 Tue, 16 Jan 2018 22:27:38 +0000 https://cs.communitynewspaperproject.org/?p=112121#comment-667919 To the Editor:

SHA’s study of the Chester River Bridge ignores its critical importance to Chestertown as its gateway and the platform for one of the Eastern Shore’s most iconic panoramic views—Chestertown’s historic riverfront. This summary statement from the SHA study ignores this vital role of the Bridge:

“The SHA’s 2010 study rated the bridge as “functionally obsolete,” though it also found that the bridge is “NOT structurally deficient.”

When SHA’s completed the maintenance work in 2016, it was apparent SHA had no sensitivity to the Bridge’s esthetic and historic role for Chestertown. Many of us travel daily across the Bridge in our cars and look beyond the Bridge’s paltry maintenance, but I urge all residents to walk the Bridge and experience, not only how terrifying this is for a pedestrian, but the eyesore it is. The 2016 maintenance project failed to bring the Bridge’s maintenance up to a standard that reflects the pride and beauty of Chestertown. It is lined with peeling, pock-marked concrete “Jersey barriers” and strewn with debris. Traverse it on foot, and you will see the missed opportunity to create a truly stunning, artful, and beautiful gateway to Chestertown. I hope this cause will be taken up by the Town Council when the next opportunity strikes to have a say about the Chester River Bridge.

]]> By: Peter Heck https://chestertownspy.org/2018/01/15/the-chester-river-bridge/#comment-667904 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:06:19 +0000 https://cs.communitynewspaperproject.org/?p=112121#comment-667904 In reply to Bill Anderson.

Bill — I was pretty young back then, so I wasn’t paying as much attention to that kind of thing as some others. I do know that Vita Foods was already paying $1.00 an hour — I had a summer job there one year, and I doubt I was getting the top rate…

]]> By: Bill Anderson https://chestertownspy.org/2018/01/15/the-chester-river-bridge/#comment-667901 Mon, 15 Jan 2018 20:51:50 +0000 https://cs.communitynewspaperproject.org/?p=112121#comment-667901 Peter Heck — I trust that you might remember back to around the 1960 era when the Campbell Soup Co. proposed construction of a plant to process and package its chicken soup in the Chestertown area. Officially, the Chestertown community made every possible effort to reject that possibility and threw every roadblock available into its path. In reality, the vast amount of that negativity came from a handful of prosperous employers in the vicinity who were, in short, afraid that Campbell Soup would willingly pay the minimum wage of $1.00 per hour and make it difficult for the Fox five and dime, Bonnett’s attire, and Vita Foods to hold onto employees and to get new ones for the wages they were currently paying. Those business people were almost successful in keeping the soup company out of the area. More recently, the community businesses again banded together to thwart the intention of Walmart to construct a store near Chestertown, utilizing many of the same arguments – they would lose employees and customers to Walmart.

So it is with any proposal to build a new bridge to serve Chestertown. Nothing but negativity. Some day, the people are going to have to accept a new bridge, with or without the community’s approval.

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