I deeply appreciate everyone that has signed and shared my petition. I could not sit back any longer and risk even the chance of the bridge being removed. Many of you know what it is like to be a Mom on a mission! Many of you also know that starting a petition takes commitment and work if you want it to make a difference. I have a lot of ideas to help spread the word and I don't care how many hours it takes. Thank you for helping me. The goal for Portland in the coming years is to increase the traffic we see, increase the stores that take a chance here and increase the number of families that call us home. As we increase our exposure, we will increase the traffic that uses that bridge and other roads. We can't just look at today, we have to look at the future. Our town has seen devastation from flooding more than once and we have rebounded together. You cannot leave us stranded should it happen again. We matter. You cannot force us, a small town, to reroute water lines for some residents and then make us foot the bill. We matter. And you cannot force people including tractor trailers down roads that are too small, roads that children play on, roads that also flood and call it an acceptable "detour" that is not even approved. Everyone involved matters. We have a voice and with everyone's help, it will be heard. I am providing a link because you cannot upload multiple photos or a video so I used my own website to house more information for you. The pictures are courtesy of Paul Lebkuecher so that you can gain a better visual understanding of the obstacles we have faced over the years. I also took a video to show you the bridge and the ridiculous detour they want all traffic including tractor trailers to take. I had it rigged up to my dash so I apologize if it is a bit shaky.