Published 6:50 am Wednesday, May 13, 2026 Where has common sense in government gone? The recent city open house on the Hawthorne project brought to light more significant problems created, and incredible costs, if a bike bridge is built at Hawthorne Avenue. For example, it was the revealed that the bridge, to be 20-feet wide, will go down the center of Hawthorne Avenue from the railroad to 2nd Street. This effectively destroys that street’s functionality, while the other east-west streets between Greenwood and Franklin are basically unimproved dirt and gravel. With no good connection from 1st St. to 2nd this will be a significant negative impact on potential development for the area. The national code for bike bridges is 10-feet wide. Our heavily used bike path in the Old Mill is 10 feet wide. Even the bike path over the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, serving thousands daily, is 10 feet wide. Do we need the huge additional cost and negative impact of a 20-foot wide bridge and ramps?…