On Wednesday night, the Wisconsin Department Of Transportation held a town hall in downtown Green Bay, regarding the Mason Street bridge just a few blocks south. It was well done, and staff was very friendly.

Unfortunately, it just felt like we were just at the engineering buffet and not sure where to begin. There was little feedback on what the public wanted to see.

Well, you might be thinking “Frank. It’s a bridge. Just get me from one side of the Fox River to the other and we’ll be fine”. And that might be the case on most projects.

But this is Mason Street. We need to be careful for what we’re asking for because it could have unintended consequences on our daily commutes. Some of you can’t even get to work on time right now.

Where do we want the bridge to start? Does it go over Ashland? Or does it need to move up?

How many lanes do we want on the bridge? What about pedestrian and bike lanes?

Do we want to continue to fly over the train tracks? Which concepts will result in less interruptions from boats on the river?

How about nearby businesses and schools? How will they be affected?

And then there was the reason I was there.

Will the construction of the Mason Street bridge overlap with the construction on Shawano, which is scheduled to begin the year before (that story HERE)? I was assured that care was being taken to keep all of the projects tidy.

But the bottom line is that there was no clear frontrunner to the plans. And there was a vacuum in which direction to go. That’s where we must get involved.

If a community doesn’t steer the ship, it will be the special interests and politicians that will take us where they want to go.

And that way will eventually get you to the other side of town. Just make sure you don’t trip over any strings they’ve attached when you’re crossing.

You can have your voice heard on the Mason Street Bridge HERE