Dale Maffitt Reservoir, an area that could potentially be impacted by a new traffic bridge.
(Cumming, IA) -- Residents who live in the area where a potential new bridge could be built by the City of West Des Moines are speaking out against the plan.
"A hundred and twenty-foot right-of-way for these boulevards will likely significantly impact and disrupt local residents," said Theresa Benskin, resident of the Maffitt Lake area. She says her family's property was part of an earlier plan for building a bridge in 2010 that fell through. "Regardless of where you put this bridge, you're going to have disruption of federally designated wetlands. Significant upland and bottomland deforestation," Benskin said, "depending on where these bridges go, there's also proximity to water reservoirs that are important to our city."
Benskin, a former civil engineer, says it may be part of a larger land grab by the City of West Des Moines, in order to incorporate the area around the far reaches of Veterans Parkway, far south of the Raccoon River.
"I think that's inevitably their intentions here, is to develop that area commercially down there and get the tax revenue," Benskin said, "if they need to go through our neighborhood, then we take them seriously that they're willing to do it."
The area where a bridge west of Interstate 35 is being explored is not currently is not part of West Des Moines. Benskin says that her family's property would have to be annexed.
Property owners in the impacted areas of two proposed bridges, one to the east and the other to the west of Interstate 35, plan to address the West Des Moines City Council Monday night, October 7th.
The City of West Des Moines also discussed plans for potential bridge construction with WHO radio. You can find that article here.