The Durham City Council voted Monday night to move toward reopening to vehicles a bridge connecting two neighborhoods with very different racial and economic backgrounds.
By a vote of 10-2, the council decided to ask the North Carolina Department of Transportation for as much as $600,000 to replace the Apex Street Bridge, which the state closed to vehicle traffic five months ago because it was in such disrepair that it was considered unsafe to use. The bridge, located between University Drive and Roxboro Street several blocks south of downtown, remains open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
The bridge runs between a lower-income, mostly black community to the east side and Forest Hills, a relatively affluent, predominantly white neighborhood to the west. But almost every speaker was careful to note that race was not the central issue.
"When I look at this room, all I see is race," said council member Jackie Wagstaff. "[But] I'm not going to make a decision based on race."
George McFadden, who lives on the east side of the bridge, said income was a larger factor. "On one side of the bridge, you've got $30,000 to $50,000 homes, on the other side $120,000," he said.
McFadden and more than half a dozen of his neighbors said rebuilding the bridge would be an important symbol of unity between the two communities.
"Public streets are public streets," said Herbert Tatum, a resident. "It's not fair for a group of people to close off a section of the community to the rest of the people."
Several residents also mentioned the historical significance of the bridge, over which black residents used to walk to work in Forest Hills.
But more than a dozen Forest Hills residents said the bridge should remain closed to vehicles to keep children safe, since the streets in the neighborhood have no sidewalks.
"Since the bridge has been closed, it's been such a much safer neighborhood," said Sue Watson, a Forest Hills resident. She also mentioned that leaving the bridge closed to traffic would make it safer to use a nearby park, which she said many organizations from different racial backgrounds visit.
Most council members said the neighborhood's traffic problems should be solved by measures such as speed bumps or better sidewalks, not by leaving the bridge closed. "I don't think any community, no matter where it is, should tolerate a broken bridge in its midst," said Mayor Pro Tem Howard Clement.
But Mayor Nick Tennyson and council member Dan Hill opposed the council's decision, arguing that the costs of the repair would outweigh the benefits since there are other routes between the two sides of the bridge.
The council's decision does not guarantee the bridge will be fixed; the state DOT must approve the funding of up to $600,000, and if that happens, the city must pay for 20 percent of the cost of the repairs, which could take up to five years.
Stewart Fisher, a Forest Hills resident, said after the meeting that he thought the traffic-calming measures suggested by council members would not provide enough safety, but added that "it would be more important to me to have good relations between the neighborhoods than to have the bridge closed."
IN OTHER BUSINESS: The council unanimously approved a new zoning regulation creating a new category of high-density residential developments that would allow up to 80 units per acre, twice as many as currently allowed. The regulation is intended for developments in the vicinity of Triangle Transit Authority rail stops.
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