Kevin Cole
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Pedestrians and drivers roaming between the Old Market and the Qwest Center Omaha will one day have more room to maneuver.
A $2.5 million plan to widen the 10th Street bridge over the Gene Leahy Mall will be unveiled Thursday during a public meeting at the W. Dale Clark Library, 215 S. 15th St.
Todd Pfitzer, an engineer with the Omaha Public Works Department, said 10th Street between Farnam and Douglas Streets will be widened by one lane — increasing the width from 40 feet to 55 feet.
The bridge’s sidewalks will increase from 5 feet wide to 8 feet wide.
Hopefully a certain level of attention is paid to the design and aesthetic of this bridge - something that cannot be said for the current bridge or the 13th Street bridge over Leahy Mall.
I'm wondering if a design will be included in the unveiling this Thursday, or just the "plan."*
*Edit: The article does say that the meeting will feature displays of what the bridge will look like. Again, I'm very hopeful that there are some redeeming design qualities that will make the new bridge visually better than the old.
Also, judging from the construction time frame and budget, this seems like a retrofit of the existing bridge, not a demo-rebuild. Anyone have any insights?
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:
Also, judging from the construction time frame and budget, this seems like a retrofit of the existing bridge, not a demo-rebuild. Anyone have any insights?
They have widened other bridges in town and just added another beam on the end and extend the bridge. Â I would guess it will look exactly the same just wider.
Well then, what a visual tragedy. At least they're widening the sidewalks, and presumably doing away with the ridiculous configuration of the sidewalk/stairs on the west side.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
Does anyone have an update on this project? Â According to the initial schedule, construction was supposed to start after the CWS, and be mostly complete by this winter. Â As we can tell, they've fallen way behind schedule, as they've yet to even start on any of this....
Between now and June 1, crews will handle prep work and work on the bridge's foundation. Although the west walkway into the Leahy Mall has been closed, the walkway on the east side of the bridge will remain open.
After July 8, work will proceed to the bridge itself and the street, which will cause some restrictions for traffic and closure of the east walkway. But the city plans to keep one lane open for traffic each way. Handicapped-accessible pedestrian detours will be available.
Work on the entire project is scheduled to wrap up in 2013.
The pedestrian sidewalk on the west side of the structure has been completely removed. Â I have not walked down below in a while so I have nothing to report on new construction yet. Â I hope they can get the new pedestrian walkway constructed soon, only thirty two more day until the NCAA Basketball Tournament rolls in tow town.
Didn't wait long after the swim trials to get back to work. Â They've got a lane closed today ripping out the pedestrian walkway on the east side of the bridge. Â
I was really hoping they'd complete the walkway on the west side before ripping out the one on the east. Â Now it'll force pedestrians to walk down into the park, and cross over on the stepping stones, behind the greenhouse, or go all the way to the 12th st bridge over the mall. Â Silly to disconnect this important pedestrian route from the Clink to the OM.
Ben wrote:I was really hoping they'd complete the walkway on the west side before ripping out the one on the east. Now it'll force pedestrians to walk down into the park, and cross over on the stepping stones, behind the greenhouse, or go all the way to the 12th st bridge over the mall. Silly to disconnect this important pedestrian route from the Clink to the OM.
Yeah, my wife and I went out with some friends on Saturday night and walked from Old Market to the Capitol district. Â I didn't know pedestrian access was closed, so we had to detour back west to the bridge over the mall. Â There were people walking across in traffic, but it didn't look like a safe choice.
I noticed that they have quite a few pallets of hand rails there for the pedestrian walkways. Â It should look nicer than the plain cement barrier they used to have there.
skinzfan23 wrote:I noticed that they have quite a few pallets of hand rails there for the pedestrian walkways. It should look nicer than the plain cement barrier they used to have there.
I noticed the stands that the light poles will go on look exactly like the ones further south on 10th along the viaduct.
I agree, I saw the bridge today and it is going to look much much nicer than the previous one. Â It should be a nice touch, connecting the Old Market with the CenturyLink Center. Â Hopefully it opens soon for all the fans for the Creighton games.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
According to the ODID's Facebook page, the bridge will be open tomorrow.
It will be nice getting it back to normal since 50%+ of the driving population doesn't follow the "No Left Turn" and the "Left Turn Only" signs down there. Â I am surprised there were not a lot more wrecks during construction.
They're still not 100% done though... Â Still using the temporary stoplights, and they've got some landscaping / brickwork to do. Â Basically just reassembly of the areas that they tore out to make room for the construction. Â That and a bunch of cleanup, and removal of the construction trailer.
Ben wrote:Still using the temporary stoplights, and they've got some landscaping / brickwork to do.
So I'm guessing that means they will finally complete replacing the stoplights from the Old Market to the CLink/TDAP. As far as I can remember, Douglas was the last intersection in that stretch that they hadn't done.
I know that most people probably don't think much about stoplights, but I think these style of lights make an area appear nicer - especially compared to the style they had there before.
They are still working on a new sidewalk from the SW Corner of 10th and Douglas down to the Lake. Â Lots of large rocks for a retaining wall. Â Should be a nice addition.
