Decisions To Proceed With FIU Bridge Are Insensitive And Irresponsible

Damielys Duarte/PantherNOW

Despite President Mark Rosenberg’s desire to construct a new Eighth Street bridge, FIU should not consider talks of rebuilding amid the still recent memories of the bridge collapse.

For the FIU community, March 15, 2018 will be remembered as a tragic day. During construction, the FIU bridge crossing our bustling Eighth Street collapsed without warning, pinning multiple vehicles beneath it and claiming the lives of six people.

Months of investigations concluded that FIU and the contractors were aware of large cracks forming in the concrete but failed to call for a road closure which would have avoided the fatal accident. 

Now, almost a year and a half later, FIU has announced they will rebuild the bridge crossing over Eighth Street and offer a memorial for the lives lost in the event. This announcement, however, feels like the University making amends for the sake of publicity so that the FIU population could be on board with the project.

In an email released to the FIU community, President Mark Rosenberg explained how the amount of off-campus apartments across Eighth Street has resulted in the need for a bridge for students to cross over traffic safely. 

While this may have been a valid and uncontested idea only two years ago, the aftermath of March 2018 cannot be erased out of FIU history. 

For many, it might be too soon to resume talks of rebuilding. A memorial won’t bring back the lives lost due to carelessness, and adding it to the second bridge would no doubt feel like salt on the wound for the families of the victims. 

Since the incident, we have had little to no statements from FIU reflecting any remorse. Instead, the story was oversimplified as our leaders distanced themselves from the blame.

The reason why is clear now: FIU never planned on stopping the creation of the bridge. 

To them, the tragic accident was simply an unexpected pause in a long awaited project. The sheer size of the school population has desensitized our FIU leaders, resulting in them viewing us as numbers who fund their extravagant projects.

We must also take into account the voices of the students attending FIU. Our safety is the “reason” for the creation of the bridge, and so far the University hasn’t considered asking their student population if they feel comfortable crossing a structure that only a year and a half ago fell onto incoming traffic.

This situation requires more time and consideration before definite plans of the bridge’s reconstruction can begin, and most importantly, repeated assurance from FIU that safety will continue to come first in light of their previous actions.

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