De Ferguson Bridge

Near Oud-Zevenaar there is a traffic bridge over the Betuweroute called De Fergusonbrug. The striking bridge is named after the Canadian corporal Kenneth Scott Ferguson, who was killed on April 2, 1945 (one day before the liberation of Zevenaar), near the place where the bridge was built (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fergusonbrug).

But:

There were many differences of opinion before the bridge was given this name. De Gelderlander posted the following article on 05-10-2020:

ZEVENAAR - The cable-stayed bridge over the Betuwelijn in Babberichseweg in Oud-Zevenaar, if the B & W agrees, will be called the Ferguson Bridge.

This arrogant decision by the Zevenaar college of mayor and aldermen is once again a strange move, because the normal course of affairs is that B & W come up with a proposal on which the council must make a decision.

The name Fergusonbrug is not only very much against the wishes of the Village Association Oud-Zevenaar, but this decision was also received wrongly b y the SP and CDA.

Early in the commission meeting of 20 March 2002, CDA board member Theo Kersten or the cable-stayed bridge could not get the name "Den Ouden Tol". The traffic alderman Theo van den Konink gave in response that there had been a request from the Cultural Historical Association to name the bridge after a soldier who was killed on the spot, but without making a ruling on this the question was referred back to the road controller the Province of Gelderland. (the communication from the province that the municipality of Zevenaar itself could determine the name of the bridge never reached the committee.)

The name Ferguson bridge was coined by the Cultuurhistorische Association Zevenaar. Ferguson was a Canadian soldier who was killed on the spot where the bridge lies. The then nineteen-year-old soldier died on 2 April 1945, one day before the liberation of Zevenaar. The military vehicle he was in was shot at by Germans.

The Village Association Oud-Zevenaar finds nothing in the name Ferguson. Apart from the fact that the community of Zevenaar, nor Oud-Zevenaar, has ever heard of this soldier, we are of the opinion that almost sixty years after the war such a naming no longer fits. If it were about a general feeling in the community, then people would still be able to change their minds about it.

The Village Council Oud-Zevenaar has, however, received very clear signals from broad sections of the Old-Zevenaar population to promote that this cable-stayed bridge should be given the name Old Toll Bridge, or a variant on it. After all, everyone in our community has known this name for years.'

Thus a letter from the Village Association to the congregation.

Despite the criticism of the Village Association, the Zevenaar college of B and W, in consultation with the province and Projectbureau Betuweroute, decided to name the cable-stayed bridge after Ferguson.

(The SP faction will ask the college written questions about this situation, the SP faction is of the opinion that assigning names to streets or objects is a matter for the parish council.)