ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
The Overell Street Bridge is set to be replaced next year prompting an outpouring of grief from the community over fears it may never get the chance to host a thrilling conclusion to a car chase.
Built during the spring of 1929, the drawbridge that spans the mighty Diamantina was once the pride of our town’s bustling French Quarter. But as the town expanded and more and more people moved into our cosmopolitan desert community, pressure mounted on the transport infrastructure in particular.
The Overell Street Bridge is a traffic bottleneck now which is why the Palaszczuk Government announced funds have been earmarked to replace the bridge with a river crossing better suited to the town’s needs.
However, some in the community have said they always wanted to see a car jump from one span to the other while fleeing a mob of police cars and this new bridge will not be able to offer that.
A French Quarter native, Marcel Cockburn, said he’s lived in the neighbourhood all his life and is yet to see a car make the jump.
“Oh yeah, sure. There’s been lots of cars try to jump it. But none have made it and certainly, none have done it while in a police chase,” he said.
“Most of the cars I’ve seen go flying off the end of the bridge have been driven by people who’ve had a medical episode. Some have been on drugs, drunk people, you know,”
“None have had the panache to do so while running from the cops. Now with the bridge being replaced, I fear I will never get to see that,”
“Why else would you build a drawbridge in the first place? To let the elite through in their yachts? Pish posh, my friend. Pish posh.”
More to come.
