If you build it, will they cross?

Responding to my column last Friday on the planned Claremont Trolley to ferry people around the Village, reader Ken Rowland says that while the trolley doesn't seem worthwhile to him, he does like Mayor Peter Yao's earlier talk of a pedestrian bridge over Indian Hill Boulevard to connect to old and new Villages.

Rowland visited Tacoma, Wash., and admired the Glass Bridge there, a structure designed by artist and Tacoma native Dale Chihuly that leads to the Museum of Glass. Artworks are displayed along the path.

Says Rowland:

"My thought was that the local art colony, located in Claremont -- both in the old village and in the village west -- would have a place to prime visitors for things to come as they cross through this novel bridge. I have no idea of cost but the $886K noted (for 3 year trial) for a 'free' tram system seems like it would be a recurring cost, as opposed to a lesser ongoing cost of maintaining an overcrossing."

Well, it does look nice, and perhaps it's adaptable to Claremont, although I remain skeptical.

Note that the Tacoma bridge is 500 feet long and "soars 70 feet into the air," linking downtown and the waterfront. After being narrowed a couple of years back to make crossing the street on foot more inviting, Indian Hill is only three lanes wide. Still. give Rowland credit for thinking imaginatively.