Closing the Fifth Street bridge to motor-vehicle traffic would be a substantial mistake. (JOE HOTCHKISS/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE) ▲

The Fifth Street bridge officially opened to traffic May 7, 1932. Amid all the detailed local news coverage of that event, no one knows the very first car to use that important bridge.

But we do know that cars should keep using it.

Plans are unfolding to restrict the bridge's use just to pedestrians and bicycles. However, closing the Fifth Street bridge to motor-vehicle traffic would be a substantial mistake.

The bridge provides highway motorists the quickest, most direct route from South Carolina to the heart of downtown Augusta. That level of convenience shouldn't be abandoned under any circumstances.

Bridges can last a long time, particularly with proper maintenance. One bridge still in use in Turkey dates to 850 B.C. In the case of the Fifth Street bridge, maintenance is mild and should be applied.

The Fifth Street bridge connects major thoroughfares to a section of downtown that's bursting with redevelopment possibilities.

Take the depot project, for example. It's one of the most important projects to hit downtown in years. That property and adjacent property have been begging for development and vitality, and quick, convenient motor access from that bridge would be a virtual necessity.

There has been further deliberation regarding the future of that particular area of Broad Street.

Two strip clubs, on the other end of the block from the bridge, have been a millstone around the neck of adjacent property owners who would love to accompany the rest of downtown into its invigorating renaissance.

"I think you're not going to get multifamily living down there; some of those buildings wanted to be that," Realtor Matt Aitken told The Chronicle recently. "Overall, general business is not going to want to be in there."

When their licenses are expected to expire, those clubs would have to close.

And when they close, the development possibilities for that area are thrown open.

Shouldn't convenient vehicle traffic from major area highways to downtown be kept open as well?

The construction plans for this proposed updated bridge are not yet complete. A construction contract hasn't even been signed. Surely there could be time to recast plans for a modern bridge design that not only could preserve auto traffic but also safely accommodate pedestrians and cyclists.

San Francisco's Bay Bridge and New York City's Tappan Zee Bridge, to offer recent examples of rebuilt bridges, now include ample space for walkers and bikers as well as cars and trucks.

Fostering one type of traffic doesn't have to mean abandoning another. Indeed, new bridge projects in 21st-century America probably should satisfy the needs of a population choosing more travel options.

This project could provide Augusta an opportunity to create an innovative transportation option that's truly for everyone: cyclists, pedestrians and - as originally intended - motorists.

Downtown Augusta is unquestionably on the move. However residents, workers and visitors choose to move, a redesigned Fifth Street bridge needs to accommodate all those choices. Under no circumstances should it be closed to vehicular traffic.