The Colchester Overpass is a major railway that goes over a bridge leading into a Fairfax Station neighborhood. That neighborhood houses more than 50+ residents. All of these residents are unable to get proper medical and fire services because of this overpass. The only fire truck that can fit through the overpass is a small pumper fire truck, and you can barely fit a small ambulance through. By maintaining the current height of this overpass we're restricting all of the families and their children from having proper access to healthcare and emergency services. 

As someone who lives in this neighborhood, it's scary for me to think about it while I'm going to sleep every night. I love my family and I love my neighbors and I don't want anything to happen to any of them. I think that Virginia resident's safety should come first in the government's eyes. I don't want the people I love and care about getting hurt as a result of this. 

So many everyday things are restricted as a result of this overpass. School busses can't fit through the overpass, so you're asking elementary level children who shouldn't be walking on their own to walk 15 minutes along roads without shoulders, just a ditch we've been informed they could "jump in" if a car comes. It's dangerous. And since parents aren't going to let their children walk that you're putting an extra strain on the working-class parents in the area. Not everyone can be a stay-at-home parent, some of them have to work and asking them to drive their children to the bus stop just so they can be relatively safe every morning is a lot. 

All in all, this bridge causes more harm than good. It's causing a lot of difficulty and stress to the people living through it. I understand it would be an investment to extend or change how it's currently working since it's been like this for the past hundreds of years. But in my opinion, the safety of residents should be number one, and it's an investment I think we have to be willing to make.