Your Opinion: Forward-thinking leaders commended

Dear Editor:

Sunday afternoon at about 3:00 p.m. I took my four-legged pal to the Noren Access for our daily walk. A letter to the editor in Sunday's edition (April 17) concerning Adrian's Island piqued my curiosity to see how the new Missouri River pedestrian bridge was being used since that also has received some negative comments in the past.

It was a beautiful spring afternoon so it did not surprise me as I headed south on U.S. 54 over the Katy Trail overpass to see that parking lot at the trail head was full of cars. All of the athletic fields in the old Cedar City area were busy - business as usual. However I was nor prepared for what I found at the Noren access. There were only two vehicles with boat trailers in tow, but the parking lot was full to the brim, more crowded that I have ever seen in the past. It was apparent that all the occupants of these vehicles were heading to the pedestrian bridge.

There is an old adage that goes: if you build it, they will come. Now, from my professional experience, I have found this to be mostly true for recreational facilities. A pessimist might say that this was due to a new feature, that the crowd was curious and the nice day just attracted them. This might be so and time will tell, but I doubt that to be the case. Recall that the Katy Trail, and the conversion of Cedar City to parkland were also viewed dimly in the past. So we shall see.

But this I do know: if Jefferson City is to grow it must change with the times, especially if it is to attract the new businesses and job opportunities of the near future. Change will take innovation and some risks; change is most often uncomfortable, but change we must. So I commend the forward-thinking civic leaders who moved us in what will most likely be the right direction.

And that goes for Adrian's Island as well.