A Modest Proposal: The John Corse Memorial Bridge

I like driving through Des Moines now.  It didn't always used to be that way--  way back in the day, I-235 was a god-awful nightmare of a mess and it just made sense to ride I-80 around the curve and Urbandale and through West Des Moines until it branched off from I-35 and headed west once more.  Then, Des Moines got it's act together and decided to clean up I-235 and the results were wonderful.

The road system works.  And more to the point, it's dotted with these beautiful, arched, blue pedestrian bridges that take what was a drive through a grey, pedestrian, frankly boring urban landscape and gave you something to look at.  Those bridges made all the difference.

I love bridges.  It's probably some weird side effect of living in such close proximity to Father Cigar for all these years but a bridge doesn't have to be just a bridge.  It can soar, it can arch, it can be breathtaking and beautiful all with merely a modicum of effort- which got me thinking- why doesn't Iowa City have any iconic bridges?

I mean, we're looking at doing all kinds of crazy things with the River.  There's talk about altering and even maybe removing the Burlington Street Dam to allow for whitewater rafting and canoeing.  I saw some vague, crazy-ass plan in Coralville to set up ziplines across the River by the Marriot.  The Iowa River has been designated a Water Trail and overall, there's a concerted effort to integrate the River into the life of the community as much as possible- if for no other reason that once a decade or so it tends to integrate itself into our lives whether we want it or not.

Which brings me to this most modest proposals- a suitable replacement for the John Corse Memorial Bridge:

Yes, that's right, this bridge has a name.  If, like me, you were wondering just who the heck General John Corse was, well, you're not alone.  The TL;DR version:  he was a badass General, Commander of the 6th Iowa Infantry in the Civil War and is especially noted for his stubborn defense during the Battle of Allatoona Pass in 1864.  His money quote: "I am short a cheek-bone and an ear, but am able to whip all hell yet."

I think he deserves a better bridge than this.  We could get crazy:

But there's equally creative precedents right here in Iowa:

That second one is the new bridge in Iowa Falls and it's extremely nice-  really beautiful replacement for the Scenic City.  Or there's something simpler still:

It doesn't have to be glorious and wonderful and a wonder of the world- but a nicer bridge, maybe a bridge that's illuminated somehow now and again would help bring attention to the River which is apparently where we want to go anyway and could be a nice way to highlight the southern end of the Riverfront Crossings District should that ever get seriously underway as the City wants.

I think that quote of his would look especially cool carved into the side of a bridge somehow but at the very least, it deserves a fresh coat of paint on those railings.  It looks like crap and I think if you're going to name something after anyone, you shouldn't be quite so slapdash about it.