Arkansas Blog

I was at a meeting early last year or even in 2006 and Skip Rutherford told us, and Gene Pfieffer was there, that the only hold up was North Little Rock not sure what NLR was doing on their side of the river.

Skip claimed they were set to go as soon as NLR got their stuff together. Skip didn't want to proceed and then find NLR couldn't get the land on the NLR side under control or something might change with the NLR Naval Station they seem to have going on over there.

A couple months later Mayor Hayes came over and laid out their intentions on it. Skip was no where to be found aftter that.

In summation, Lindsey is saying they might or might not fix up the bridge -- he says there is no actual agreement to do so -- but that, in any case, they don't have the money, don't know where they might get the money, and there is no start/end date for the project -- even if they decide to do it.

I used to try that circular reasoning on my grandmaw and all it got me was a ass-whuppin' with a peach-tree limb.

ARK. BLOG: I think Gene is preparing to say the same thing, but probably not quite so pithily..

Skip Rutherford serves as Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service, part of the University of Arkansas System, and no longer speaks for the Clinton Foundation. Hence the fact that this memo comes from Bruce Lindsey.

he notes that it lacks a timetable.<<

That's one of several political tricks. Attribute a failure to act on a third party.

Orval Faubus used to tell city/county officials: "Always agree to a new courthouse or school but, never agree where to put it."

Gene Pfeifer is an old coot with nothing better to do. Get over it Gene, move on.

How in the hell do you spend 10 million on an old iron bridge?

Gene - get a life!

DBI, in terms of construction One Million Dollars is nothing anymore. The local Chickenopolis hospital decided to put a new exterior on the place. Keep in mind it's not nearly the size of your St Vincents or the Baptist Hospital in L.R. When my partner told me they were spending 2 million dollars for a new exterior I nearly fainted. That was half of what the original hospital cost.
Never under estimate the power of Free Markets to raise prices.

So in 1996 Clinton promised a bridge to the 21st century. To start the 21st century we got a recession brought on by the collapse of dotcoms and the World Trade Towers. This is the 2nd bridge that Clinton hasn't delivered on.

Well two things are certain. One is that Skip Rutherford is "The Academic" and two is that Gene Pfeifer is still a world class pain the back side. Gene, find something more productive to do with your time or cough up the extra $5 million yourself. In a world like this, that bridge is the last thing that should be on anyone's mind and I'm not sure anyone's going to find donors who are particularly excited about contributing to an old bridge, especially if they think about all the other things they can do with their hard earned dollars.
Seems to me money for projects like this will likely be saved in the piggy bank to ride out the tough times or will go to more worthy causes that save lives or improve the human condition. Or at least we can hope. Gene, time to find another hobby other than crying like a baby about your completely superficial pet projects. Academic, er, I mean, Skip, maybe you want to give some of your extravagant state salary to the bridge project?

Too many people excusing The Foundation from promise breaking.

Speaking from ignorance of the promises made and broken and the players involved, I would like to say that having an eastern route across the river for bike riding in Central Arkansas is not without merit from a community health standpoint.
I dare say someone could come up with cost effectiveness comparisons for health improvement and also for fuel savings should citizens take regular advantage of the trail.
Selfishly, I would love to see the completion of the western bridge proposed in the master plan for the river trail connecting the area west of the Big Dam Bridge and Two Rivers Park. Now THAT would be a major sweetness for bike riding!

Gene - I just called my son and he will be happy to weld on your project for 125K. Seems that most of the best welders in the state want to work on the new Fayetteville shale pipeline that will start this fall and not a bridge.

Sure Ron. Could it be that there is more than one issue and that people care much less about the tug of war with the Clinton Foundation and much more about how an extra $5 mil that anyone might drum up could be spent? I think that is the bigger issue. This doesn't have to be a priority just because Gene says it should be. There are a lot of broken promises out there. I think people are suggesting time and efforts might be better spent going after bigger issues and bigger offenders.

Arguments as to if this is necessary are the same arguments said about the BDB. The BDB has been a huge success and this is an extension of that.

It is one man's ( or women's )opinion as to what money is better spent on. Probably one thing can't be single out as the most important. So the vying continues.

Now to the facts. In 2001 an Omnibus survey in the United States showed 30% more people would ride a bicycle if it were perceptibly safer and more convenient. Already the bicycle is the second most preferred method of transportation behind the car even given the pitiful state of the infrastructure for it. It's done by more people than any other sport or activity. At that time of the survey the mere 1% of those already cycling as a means to supplement their transportation saved this country an estimated 245 million barrels of gasoline annually. With the way things are today, aside from poor health and the benefits derived from cycling combined with transportation, higher gas prices demand something be done now.

You can wait on technology to come up with an answer, you can buy a flex fuel vehicle, you can hold out for an EV but the simple fact of the matter is the bicycle is ready right now to be part of the solution. Nothing is less expensive, as efficient and out of the box ready to go.

During this weekend's ED event many people commuted to the event by bicycle from as far away as Cooks landing and as close as Burns Park. They motored the bicycle to some place easy to get to easy to park at and rode the bicycle there. Some took the BDB bridge, some took Main St or Broadway. But we know more would come with kids in tow if a safer route for them existed with the conversion of the RI bridge to a pedestrian Bike Way. It is this portion of the population that requires a better infrastructure.

No longer will our infrastructure be a simplex manner of roads. A diverse society and a well planned community have more than one option to get around and the contribution of this bridge will be part of that infrastructure.

Then Ron, all those bike riders need to buck up to the tune of about $5mil. Plain and simple.
Never been to the BDB, could care less about it but agree it is a neat thing and a good resource for those who dig that kind of thing. But I don't think they pegged a single foundation to pay for it did they? Didn't think so.
So...if it is really that important to the general welfare, then the City/County/State should buck up and pay for the difference. But that's where my argument that some might think that money could better be spent elsewhere comes in. But leave it up to the people to decide and if they want to pay for it, more power to them (us).
Sounds to me like the Clinton Foundation is still committed to the same $4 mil they committed to at the outset. Same with the city. So yall are $5 mil short. If you can't get the government to pay for it, sounds to me like all those who want to use it need to pony up the dough for the shortfall or find someone who will. Maybe Gene can put his money (and that of his posse of bikers) where his big mouth is. I say put up or shut up. And if yall don't, then ride over any of the other bridges within a stones throw of the Clinton bridge. Last I checked they were workin just fine!

It just appears to me that all public project these days cost a zillion to make sure all the fat cats can get their cut of the pie. It's an iron railroad bridge. It's not gonna carry giant locomotives anymore, just tiny fleshy bodies. If you filled it full of people like 50s teenagers in a phone booth, it wouldn't be holding a fraction of the weight it was designed to hold.

Paint the sucker, plant some bushes and call it OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

MarvinG. Sorry, but the failed "those-who-use-it-pay-for-it" argument was tried with the BDB too. In that case it was part federal part city money and it was complained about then. This time its private money and its still met with complaints.

The project was promised and there was not a capped amount. So any understanding or belief of that is also a failed argument.

And cyclists do ride over any bridge within a stones throw of the RI bridge ( except I-30 ) and they will still continue to do that ofter the RI bridge. But there is still a sizeable segment of the population that deserves a safer and more convenient route.

People wanting to see the bridge converted have donated money to the conversion. The Foundation sold and collected money for brick pavers to be used on the project. To this day the Foundation won't say where that money has gone to. How much was collected is not know because the Foundation won't say.

The solution is simple. Barack Obama could drop out of the nomination race before any more embarassment occurs, donate all those grass-roots millions he's accumulated to the build and upkeep of the bridge RIGHT IN FRONT OF CLINTON'S LIBRARY, and his legacy wouold be, A Clinton promised a bridge to Argenta, but it took an Obama to make it happen. He's have his nose-thumbing (finger-giving?) of the Clintons enshrined in perpetuity, and us bike riders would have our bridge!

Let me translate Skip's response for you:

We've been too *dam* busy working on Hillary's campaign to deal with your little bridge. If
Hillary wins, you might get the bridge, if not screw you.

*** The cost increase should be the responsibility of the Clinton Foundation. Their delays are the reason for the cost increase.