Dear Editor,
Re: “Interest on bridge debt could total $8 billion,” Richmond News, May 10.
In the late 1800s, con artists in New York used to make a fortune selling the Brooklyn Bridge to gullible victims.
B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone must be hoping British Columbians are equally gullible.
Why else would he think we would buy the argument that a loan for a bridge is like a mortgage on a house? There is no market for used bridges. Bridges don’t appreciate in value. You don’t get the same financial return on your investment when you pay off a bridge as you do when you pay off your house.
A used bridge is like a used car; you hope it lasts for a few years after you’ve paid it off, then you keep repairing it, or trade it in. I guess Mr. Stone is hoping this bridge will be like a ’67 Ferrari. Maybe it will, and maybe this bridge really is being built to alleviate congestion and not so that tankers can ply the newly-dredged waters of the Fraser River in order to ship liquefied natural gas overseas.
Maybe. But if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you.
Amy Brooks
Richmond
