Durham bridge will be removed

Ramp to be built for access to trail

DURHAM -- The City Council voted Tuesday to tear down the crumbling bridge straddling a former rail line between the affluent, predominantly white Forest Hills neighborhood and the historically black, low-income neighborhood of St. Theresa's.

After it is demolished, a ramp is to be built down the steep, kudzu-covered bank on the St. Theresa's side to allow residents there access to the American Tobacco Trail, a pedestrian greenway that now lies where trains full of brightleaf once rumbled to the cigarette factories downtown.

It is the third time in less than six years the council has voted on the old Apex Street bridge, which was closed to cars and trucks in 2001 because of safety concerns but has remained open to pedestrians.

The new decision counteracts two previous votes by the council. In October 2001, shortly after engineers reported the bridge had decayed to a point where it was too dangerous for cars, the council voted to replace it with a new vehicular bridge. In August 2004, the council voted to tear down the old bridge and replace it with a prefabricated pedestrian span. The issue came up again this summer when city staffers returned to the council with a proposal to provide funding for the pedestrian bridge. Longtime council member Howard Clement then asked that an estimate be provided for building a full-sized vehicular bridge.

Speakers at Tuesday's meeting divided down racial lines.

Residents from Forest Hills, a neighborhood of gracious homes surrounding a leafy public park converted from what was once one of the city's first golf links, said Tuesday that reopening the bridge to traffic would create a dangerous cut-through route.

"Safety is important," said Joe Chambliss, president of the Forest Hills Neighborhood Association. "Opening the bridge would invite speeding cars and imperil the safety of children living on both sides of the bridge."

Those living on the other side said reopening the bridge would offer vital access to the park, as well as the old clubhouse that serves as a common polling place. Leaving the bridge closed, forcing black residents to drive around to an alternate crossing a quarter mile away to cast their ballots, could be construed as a violation of the Voting Rights Act, said Denise Hester.

"This has been portrayed as a transportation issue, but it is an issue of fairness," Hester said. "We've always had to go the long way around."

Kathryn Kalb, the city's public works director, estimated it would take several years and more than $1 million to build a new vehicular bridge. Durham could apply for the state to reimburse the city for up to 80 percent of the cost, she said, but that would likely delay construction even longer. Her department recommended tearing down the old bridge and building the ramp, providing residents from St. Theresa's pedestrian access to Forest Hills utilizing the greenway.

After an apparent majority of the council expressed support for the plan, Clement offered a substitute motion to build the vehicular bridge -- directly challenging Mayor Bill Bell to "walk the walk, not talk the talk" by joining his stand.

"It was my privilege in 2001 to vote in favor of vehicular traffic," Clement said. "It was my privilege in 2004 to vote in favor of vehicular traffic. I intend to maintain my consistency. ... unlike some of my colleagues."

The mayor responded by reminding Clement that he was not on the council in 2001 and that in 2004 the board voted unanimously -- Clement included -- in favor of the pedestrian bridge. Clement objected that he would have never made such a vote, until Bell read aloud from the minutes of the prior meeting.

"Well, if the board voted unanimously in 2004 then why are we even talking about it again?" Clement asked.

The mayor responded, grinning: "That's a good question."