(PENSACOLA) --- Shooting lasers on the roadway will warn motorists that their vehicle is too high or heavy to pass through the Graffiti Bridge.
Who is paying for it?
You.
OpGov.News polled Nextdoor neighbors last week about Mayor D.C. Reeves' $325K project approved Thursday night by the Pensacola City Council.
The simple post and response show direct opposition to the project and cost seen below.
(Photo: Angela Underwood Nextdoor Post Question)
Resident Shelly Hentin and George Levy also note the high cost, while other residents ask questions and make suggestions.
“Has anyone approached the city council and/or the mayor with the suggestion of metal height bars?” Mary Konopka writes. “Or has this suggestion been swept under the rug like many others because the mayor wants to do what he wants to do with taxpayers' money?
Cindy and Jerry Blakemore concur, noting it is “much cheaper just to put a metal height bar about 25 ft before the bridge on both sides.”
(Photo: Angela Underwood Nextdoor Post Comments)
Along with the flashing lasers comes more surveillance, at a time when residents already fear FLOCK cameras here.
According to the memorandum, “these improvements, known as an Infrared Sensor System with CCTV Camera, are intended to mitigate vehicular contact with the Graffiti Bridge."
What makes the approval most disturbing is its placement on the Consent Agenda, a portion of the meeting that allows no public comment, making it much easier for officials to "sweep under the rug," just like Kopoka noted.
Meanwhile, WEAR's report makes the new systems sound sensational, quoting police officers and officials. Leave it to the corporate media, living off advertising, to dismiss residents' concerns.
I say this with the utmost confidence because I worked at the ABC affiliate, which seeks approval from the upper class, not the lower class of residents, who simply can't afford for laser lighting systems to suck up more of their taxes.
The local station attempts to save face by putting a poll at the end of their report asking whether the system is a waste of taxpayers' money, yet they avoid speaking to any residents, as they did with officials.
For the record, the station's poll notes that 54% of residents believe it is a waste of money, under a line stating the system will be installed by the summer. Now that the project is passed, it is too late to say or do anything but watch it happen.
So, heads up, if you see flashing lasers around Graffiti Bridge, it is not aliens attempting contact; it's more of your money on a project many residents already oppose, par for the course in Pensacola.
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