Darn, this is the second time in a row that a business dinner in the city gets cancelled because of a BayBridge closure. Both times with the same folks! They are going to write me off as a hopeless EastBay loser. Last time, I got on 24 before learning that a big rig accident had closed the bridge. Good thing I turned around and went home because nothing moved on that bridge for hours. Today is the second day of commuting nightmare after some pieces of metal fell on the bridge. Caltrans is scrambling to fix the problem, but thousands and thousands of commuters are in deep trouble.
I was thinking the Bay Area was in a unique situation of bridge dependence. But when I thought about it again, I realized that most cities where I have lived had a river running through it and one or more bridges to cross it. Paris? So many bridges that you can practically spit from one to the other! Even if one fell in the Seine, I guess it would be alright and life would not come to a stop.
Portland and Seattle which I called home for several years in the 90s? They are both big bridge cities. I used to commute from Seattle to Bellevue. Every morning, I had not one, but two bridge options to get to the Eastside. Yes, it was often slow going driving over Lake Washington, but the view was nice and I don’t remember any closures. Portland has its own love affair with bridges. It has been so long, I have forgotten most of their names. But at some point, there was always a reason to cross the Willamette, let alone the Columbia to get into WashingtonState.
My hometown too is pretty proud of its bridge. As a matter of fact, the “Pont Henri IV” just celebrated its 400th anniversary. We missed the festivities, but let me tell you that it is still standing strong. Started at the request of Henri II, it was finally completed 34 years later, one year before Henri IV was assassinated. The local story goes that Henri II had it built to make it easier to visit one of his mistresses. You know the French…The stone bridge is only about 470 feet, but it is quite charming with its two imposing towers guarding the entrance to the city. On a personal note, my father who is a stonemason did some renovation work on the towers many years ago. During WWII, the German army threatened to blow it up. But it is still there. Too bad, this is not the bridge I need to cross tonight. But maybe I should not let a little bridge problem stop me. After all, Bart and the bus system do work.
