DAGSpace: Revisioning the South Street Bridge

DAGSpace is a monthly opinion piece initiated by the Design Advocacy Group to advance its goal of promoting good design by encouraging thoughtful public discussion of design matters.  DAG SPACE articles are the opinions of their authors.  While DAG hopes they will contribute to constructive public dialogue, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors of any DAGSpace article do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints or official policies of the Design Advocacy Group.

In February 2009: Jim Campbell, of the South Street Bridge Coalition, and Marcia V. Wilkof, Democratic Ward Leader, 30th Ward, discuss the process of Revisioning the South Street Bridge in this month’s DAGSpace article.

Revisioning the South Street Bridge

“The revisioning of the South Street Bridge is a story about lessons learned: that simply following the letter of the law is not enough, that public outcry works, that priorities change and that participative processes are a must. Stories about the early process for designing a new South Street Bridge are conflicting. Government officials insisted that the public had been given every opportunity to comment on the proposed Bridge design, and few had chosen to do so. Members of the community claimed that when they first asked to participate in 1999 they were told it was too early and when they wanted to comment on the design that was finally presented to them in 2007 they were told it was too late.”