Closing Westwood Bridge would come with huge cost

TO THE EDITOR:

According to the numbers posted by the Standard, 6,430 vehicles use the Westwood Bridge daily.

Let’s assume that closing the bridge will force an average detour of two miles. This will force the users of the Westwood Bridge to drive and additional 12,860 miles per day.

Now let’s assume the average vehicle gets 15 miles to the gallon. That equates to an additional 857 gallons of gas consumed a day during the closure. At a rate of $2 per gallon, that is an additional $1,714 per day, or for the 2-1/2 year life of the project, $1,564,025 spent on gas alone. That is the conservative calculation.

The 2007 IRS mileage allowance for businesses is $0.485 per mile. At that rate, the people who use the Westwood Bridge will absorb additional costs of $5,691,354 in gasoline and vehicle depreciation during the bridge closure.

I believe these numbers alone justify building a new bridge adjacent to the existing bridge. However, they do not even take into account emergency response times or the cost of general aggravation of having to detour.

How would you like to add an estimated five minutes of response time to your house if you need an ambulance to save your life? What is the value on those five minutes if they save only one life?

Jeff Wolaver
Westwood resident
Ben Lomond Drive
McMinnville