Just a month after putting it up, Manchester says it will now spend $25,000 to move the gate that blocks access to the new Walmart from Upper Gold Street.
WMUR reports that aldermen in the city voted Tuesday to move the gate to the west to allow Bradley Street and Beech Hill Drive residents access Walmart.
As I noted before in the weeks leading up to the first closure, you can still cut through a side street to access the area via President & Frontage roads and onto Ross Ave.
Now, the city has decided they’re going to spend $25,000 (in taxpayers’ money) to move the gate to the west so that residents on Bradley Street and Beech Hill Drive can access businesses like Walmart and Hannaford.
If you pay taxes in Manchester, you should as infuriated as I am (and yes – I’m am also a taxpayer in the city.)
And before you tell me I’m insensitive, I already know that. Get over it. Installing it once was one thing. But now, after all that time and money is spent, we’re moving it? WHY are we over-accommodating the contradicting needs of small neighborhood of people?
These people wanted a gate, we gave it to them. Now they want it moved to the tune of $25 G’s? This is insanity.
Not to mention that this issue comes up and we immediately take care of it only a month after the initial install?
So which alderman do you think lives in that neighborhood? This is so incredibly stupid.
Don’t get me wrong, like many residents in Manchester I also agree that the location was a terrible place for a Walmart.
But at the end of the day, it happens. Joni Mitchell wrote the lyrics “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot” over 40 years ago. Commercial sprawl isn’t something new.
Don’t like it? Move.
I’d love to see what would happen if the entire city were to decide on the matter. What if we were to put it to a vote? Wouldn’t that be a novel idea? To ask those that are actually all of the people who are paying for this ridiculous move?
What a waste of money. Shame on you, City of Manchester.
⇒ Originally posted on WOKQ.com. Reposted with author’s permission. Click here for more from JC Coffey.
JC Coffey can be heard every afternoon taking you home on the Big Drive Home on WOKQ 97.5 FM. When he’s not behind the mic his two passions are deep sea fishing off the coast of the Massachusetts North Shore and riding his Harley Davidson on a beautiful summer New England day! JC originally hails from Atkinson and currently resides in Manchester.
