This is just one of those posts that makes you scratch your head. I spent half the day giving a tour of the waterfront to one of BRO’s newest writers who’s moving here from LA. After driving around the Cobblestone District we crossed the Michigan Avenue Bridge. We then arrived at the General Mills plant, which is where our journey to the Outer Harbor was cut short. Why? Because this is the site of a missing bridge – the South Michigan Avenue Bridge, which was demolished by a runaway ship freighter called The Tewksbury.
This is the site of the missing bridge from the Inner Harbor to the Outer Harbor. I made some phone calls this morning to ask about the many rumors as to why this bridge was never replaced and every single person I talked to said, “That’s a good question and there’s no reason for it not to have been replaced.” Wow. That’s about as lame as it gets.
Do you mean to tell me that there’s no bridge there just because no one replaced it? Many people will tell you that General Mills doesn’t want the public driving by their plant. Other people will tell you that there is a better plan to get people to the Outer Harbor. If this isn’t the biggest no-brainer decision this city has faced, then I don’t know what is (don’t answer that). Replace the damned bridge!
What are we waiting for? Just take a look at a Google map and tell me that this is as easy as connect-the-dots. This is the big dilemma? People are having a tough time getting to the Outer Harbor because there’s not a bridge to cross? A bridge that was there for half a century? And Bidco Marine is located just down the street from General Mills. Ya know what they do? They build bridges.
Lead image of The Tewksbury after it plowed into the bridge – photo courtesy Buffalo History Museum