Hilarious article from the Roanoke Times:

The city has built a bridge across the railroad tracks in Roanoke that separate downtown from nigger town. The bridge leads to an area that has been almost completely bulldozed in the past five decades, and has only two active, occupied buildings.

Appropriately, this bridge to nowhere has been named the "Martin Luther King, Jr Bridge".

The city has enough trouble keeping businesses downtown -- about half the storefronts there are empty. The Roanoke Times now thinks businesses will move into retail in an even less desirable location.

LOL

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http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/139191

Editorial: A bridge, not a divide

The bridge in Roanoke now known as the Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge used to be the racial equivalent of Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing point between white Roanoke and black Roanoke.

The pedestrian bridge, reopened this week after an extensive renovation, can now become a symbol of reconciliation.

As Roanoke City Councilman Alfred Dowe said, "It sends a signal that as an African-American, you're acknowledged, you're recognized."

The reopened pedestrian link to downtown Roanoke could also help the Henry Street area complete its rebirth.

The recently opened Dumas Center for Artistic & Cultural Development and the soon-to-open Claude Moore Education Complex, which will include a culinary school, auditorium and outdoor plaza, can anchor further development of the once-vital historic neighborhood.

The Social Security office building planned for Henry Street will now take the place of the Jefferson Motor Lodge instead, for reasons still unclear.

Some didn't think the building fit in with the Henry Street character -- but the traffic it would have generated could have done much for the area.

In January, the city will dedicate a monument to King on the Henry Street side of the bridge.

The public investment in Henry Street now needs to be supplemented by private businesses that could capitalize on this new gateway.