It will cost $8 million, span Interstate 25 and, depending whom you talk to, be either a cyclist’s dream or a neighborhood nightmare.
Officially, it is the Colorado Center Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge, a 309-foot single-span bridge over I-25, linking Colorado Center Drive on the southwest to the corner of South Cherry Street and Jewell Avenue on the northeast.
According to the city, it would link the RTD light-rail station to a retail-and-theater complex and close a major gap in the area’s bicycle-trail system.
Residents who live in the area of the proposed bridge beg to differ. It’s not the proverbial bridge to nowhere. On the contrary, neighbors believe, it’s a bridge too far.
“It comes right down the length of my street,” said Ro berta Holbrook, one of the area residents who has led the fight against the bridge.
But the biggest potential headache, Holbrook said, would be the elimination of much of the on-street parking used by residents of her 25-unit condominium complex as well as those who live in apartments across the street.
City officials have heard residents’ parking concerns and have evaluated a variety of options to be presented at a public meeting today, Denver Public Works spokeswoman Ann Williams said.
The need for the bridge was identified in four plans over the past 12 years, Williams said. It would eliminate the need to cross the interchanges of Colorado and Evans with I-25 as well, she said. The bridge was first proposed in 1999 as part of the T-Rex improvements to I-25 but was dropped because of a lack of funding.
This time, half the money is coming from city capital-improvement funds and the rest from the Federal Transportation Improvement Program.
Karen Auge: 303-954-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com
