A Bridge to Nowhere?

Aug. 02, 2012

midnight

Drivers heading north on the Hoan Bridge can catch a wonderful view of Downtown Milwaukee. The Hoan Bridge—located on Interstate 794—begins at the southeastern portion of Downtown and ends at the Port of Milwaukee. Today, the bridge is known for its beautiful views of Downtown and Lake Michigan. However, the Hoan Bridge was once an issue of contention in Milwaukee, when many claimed it to be "The Bridge to Nowhere." Construction on the Hoan Bridge began in 1970 and took two years to complete. The bridge stretched 1.9 miles across the Milwaukee River, connecting Downtown Milwaukee to South Side neighborhoods with a 1,140-foot tied steel arch. Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff (HNTB) designed the bridge, which, upon completion, was not connected to the surrounding highway system—earning the Hoan the nickname of "The Bridge to Nowhere." It would not be until 1998 that the long-proposed Lake Parkway extension would be complete. This extension of I-794 connected the south end of Downtown to Layton Avenue and Mitchell Airport. But there would be more problems for the Hoan Bridge. In December 2000, a crack occurred on the bridge while motorists were on the road. The cracked section of the bridge was taken out, and it would be a few months before some lanes were available for drivers in each direction. All lanes reopened about a year later. The bridge is named after Daniel Hoan, mayor of the city of Milwaukee from 1916 to 1940, who was well known for his progressive social projects. His administration built many of the city's parks, sewers, street lighting and transportation systems. Hoan's administration built public housing and created one of the first bus systems in the county. He was known for his passion for education and desire for health care for all citizens of Milwaukee. Hoan's term was the longest consecutive Socialist administration in U.S. history. The Hoan Bridge still carries thousands of cars, trucks and buses each day on its six lanes—some filled with people going home or to work, others heading to the airport for a trip. Regardless of their destination, most Milwaukeeans today acknowledge that the bridge takes them somewhere important, rather than nowhere.

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A Bridge to Nowhere it was, and a Bridge to Nowher...

A Bridge to Nowhere it was, and a Bridge to Nowhere is still is... at least to a Conservative Republican TEA Party member. Let the bridge take me to profits for me, greater than what my taxes are, and then I would welcome it... If I were a greedy, selfish, Red-spirited voter.

But it takes me to a community directly associated with Blue-fist Liberalism, a total waste of Red taxpayers money. I can always stay on I-94 and quickly speed past it, not even bothering to see its people or patronize its shops. "Everybody knows" that ONLY red-voters pay taxes, and blue voters leach off these taxes. There is no other reality. No Red Voter would even try to listen to any propaganda that says otherwise. Charlie Sykes has already told me what to think, say, and do.

All costs paid by government should be investment into boosting a private business's profits... Oh wait, a partnership of business and government is called FASCISM.

Before I get carried away with parroted drivel, the real reason that the "Taxed Enough Already Party Republican" is angry is because his rapidly off-shoring private workplace has failed to maintain a system that lets him continue taking out ever larger loans and fully paying them off again. Instead, the only American that is "valued" is the one who already has built equity, and does his duty to take out a loan against it to buy goods and services, despite not having a good enough job to pay off those loans again. In the meantime, the top 0.1% has taken my money and put them into an offshore account, forever out of reach of Uncle Sam when the un-valued American voters finally rise up and vote to do so.

Anonymous more than 12 years ago