Posted on capt mel

[sharkark]

I just posted this on captain mels forum. Anybody interested?

This may not be the right place to float this idea but I'll try anyway. Some time ago I started a thread related to the lack of land based fishing areas and the closure of Gandy and the Skyway. The thread seemed to "evolve" into a discourse on land-based licenses and what lowlife land based fishermen were. I would like to state again that this area is not friendly to land based fisherman and the closing of two major fishing "Piers" proves it. I propose to do something about it. They used to call it civil disobedience. It has been said that the closure of these two locations was due to the fact that the structures are unsafe to allowing fishing. I do not believe that is true and my intent is to demonstrate that it is not true. The "plan" is to gather as many fishermen and ladies as possible and go fish on the Gandy catwalks. I would, at the same time, encourage all those interested in walking on the Friendship Trail to join us at the same time. News media will be contacted to cover the event and no damage will be done to any of the unsafe structure. This will demonstrate that the structures are, in fact, safe. If liability is the issue we will encourage the powers that be to post signs that indicate, "Unsafe, fish at your own risk" or find out how much additional insurance will cost to cover the fishermen and walkers. If you go to the Panhandle or the Keys, or many other places in Florida you will find people fishing from bridges in much worse shape. Let's cut through the crap and get to the bottom of what's really going on here. Government is supposed to be responsible to the people. Lets make them be. I would like to do this first at Gandy and then the Skyway. The action will be repeated until we get some results. This will only work if we get sever hundred people that are interested. Sign up sheets at Minnows & Monsters or Gandy Bait and Tackle and projected dates will be available based on your response.

[havetofish]

At least the Gandy is getting attention and has a coordinated effort to do something. I know of no such effort for the Skyway. They even did intrusive testing to confirm the findings. They will also try to get Stimulus money to help. Since the Skyway is a State Park, maybe no one cares.
Anyway here's a link to an article. If you follow the links at the bottom, you will see the evidence and the follow up testing, along with proposed solutions. www.baynews9.com/content/36/2009/5/26/477187.html

[blacktip]

They replaced the old catwalk not even 8 years ago if I remember right. Used to be really narrow.

[montylfl]

Here is more info. May be promising.

15MM to save it 13MM to demolish. hmmmm

You may want to contact Sue Carlton.

Phone: [phone] or 800-333-7505, ext. 3376

E-mail: [e-mail]




Maybe the Friendship Trail can be a bridge to better times
By Sue Carlton, Times Columnist
In Print: Saturday, May 30, 2009

Does it seem like we're getting awfully used to losing things around here?

Library hours. Bus routes.

Scariest of all, jobs — gone in the face of a grim economy.

So at a time when nothing seems safe from the scalpel, is it possible, even thinkable, that we could talk seriously about saving the Friendship Trail Bridge again?

I know, I know.

Even those of us utterly devoted to the bridge-turned-cycling-running-walking-hiking trail that stretches across the water between Pinellas and Hillsborough counties were stunned speechless at the potential price tag.

But first, a little history.

A span of the old Gandy Bridge that was built back in 1956 was saved from demolition more than a decade ago by a group of forward-thinking folks who wanted to see it reborn as a pedestrian park.

Or maybe that should be parkway.

Renamed the Friendship Trail Bridge, it opened in 1999 as a 2.6-mile span running next to the regular car-traffic bridge and ferrying enthusiastic bikers, walkers and skaters instead.

If you've been there, you've probably loved it, all that wind, water and great wide open. People trained for marathons and pedaled back and forth between counties. They power-walked and in-line skated and strolled babies as boats passed below and jets arced overhead.

But the Friendship Trail Bridge aged, as old bridges (and the rest of us) inevitably will. Support beams cracked, metal rusted and chunks of concrete threatened to fall into the water.

All of which, we were told, made it unsafe for the 600,000 of us who were hitting that pavement annually.

And so last year, they closed our bridge, to the dismay of everyone who kept showing up in their running togs. Then they told us the cost of fixing it would be $30 million.

Thirty mil!

Even the most fervent supporters — those who saw from the start the unique amenity this would be for Tampa Bay — had a hard time arguing to spend that kind of cash.

Seemed our bridge was sunk.

But wait. Don't give the old Gandy last rites just yet.

Consultants hired by both counties now say it would cost half that, about $15 million, to fix the bridge for recreational use.

Actually, that's $7 million to fix it, $4 million for ongoing repairs and $4 million for contingencies.

That $15 million would buy the bridge 10 more years of use, engineers estimated.

And the cost to demolish it outright?

Thirteen million.

That's sure some interesting math when you look at that slimmed-down price tag: $13 million to knock it down, $15 million to save it. And energetic exploration of any state and federal funds available could only help us hope.

Yes, even that cost is going to be a tough sell to local politicians and taxpayers in the current climate. And, yes, that would leave us with the decision, again, of what to do with the old Gandy 10 years later.

But that's going to be the trick in this economy, isn't it? How not to give up everything. How not to throw out the baby with the bathwater, or maybe that's throw out the bridge with the budget.

Things pass, even tough economic times, and one day we'll be looking around to see what's left and what we lost.

It may turn out some of them were worth saving.



[Last modified: May 29, 2009 07:12 PM]

[goindeep]

The first article said $15 million to repair Gandy (which would last 10 years), or $17 mil to build a while new pier (which would last much longer).

Easy call.