Bown Crossing
If you don’t spend much time in Southeast Boise, perhaps you’ve missed the buzz over the last year or more about the proposal and construction of the East Parkcenter Bridge. From where I live, I can hear the pile driving from time to time and my son loves walking over to see the “Boom-boom’s” (Backhoes, bulldozers, and excavators). It certainly has created a fuss for some of the residents who live close by and some opportunities for others; in either case, a tax bill . According so some sources, the plans for the bridge have been on the books for quite some time so the project should come as no big surprise.
The bridge is 100% funded by taxpayer dollars and projected costs were higher than actual bids- most likely due in part to construction and development slowdowns. The funding is a bit different than the proposed ‘impact fees’ that were supposed to have been paid by the developers of the land in Barber Valley.
The size of the bridge will be 4 lanes which is larger than originally proposed which I suppose makes sense if they had planned to widen the original bridge sometime in the future, this may mitigate future disruption of the river and the immediate residents. A rendering of the bridge can be seen here.
From the perspective of growth, there are many Boiseans who don’t want see more homes being built and our city getting larger. A pretty convenient position, especially since most people who don’t care for the growth quite possibly imposed their relocation or presence upon someone else. No, offense, but that’s the type of logic that should usually be called out. Last time I checked, people are free to move about to wherever they please and for whatever reasons that suit them. Certainly growth has its pains, but lets not forget that many of the homes that border along Parkcenter were the topic of growing pains a few decades ago. No one seems to want to talk about that now, I suppose a little historical amnesia is ok from time to time, eh?
As for the taxes, I know when it comes down to it, most everybody would like to keep their hard earned dollars in their pocket. Some how, some way, this investment into the Southeast Boise area won’t be lost on our citizens and our neighborhoods as long as we can look for the benefits. I for one would certainly be the beneficiary of reduced traffic on Boise Avenue where I currently live.
If you or someone you know has been impacted by the project in some way or another, we’d love to hear about it from their perspective. Just call, email or comment here.
No related posts.
