wowt.com wrote:Tuesday, the Omaha City Council approved via a resolution a $6 million bid for construction near downtown on the riverfront. It’s for another pedestrian bridge connecting the ballpark and arena area to the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the bridge N. 10th St. and Meca Dr, but the incoming Baby Bob bridge would cut that hike significantly from nearly a mile to less than a quarter mile. “This Baby Bob project would be a very important and welcome pedestrian amenity downtown that we don’t currently have,” said Pete Festersen, city council president. “And [it] would substantially increase connectivity for visitors that are exploring our brand new riverfront.” The board passed the resolution to start paying the locally owned contractor, Hawkins Construction Company to build the Baby Bob.
So glad to hear this is finally happening. In all honesty, even as cool as the Mid America Energy tower will be at the other end of the bridge, I am ultimately more excited and pleased about the Baby Bob.
“Construction of the bridge was originally slated to begin in May but has been pushed back to October because of a shortage of steel girders, said Austin Rowser with the city's Public Works Department.
The project is estimated to take about a year and a half to complete.”..
Was down at the Bob the other day and saw some heavy equipment and dirt turned at the end of Mike Fahey St. Not sure if this is an official start to the Baby Bob as I believe it was to start next month. Anybody know if this officially starting to ramp up? (pun intended)
ItsAllAboutMe post wrote:Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:52 pm
Construction fence is going up.
Maybe. Finally..
Fingers crossed …
Ciao..LiO…Peace
Drove by today on 10th, and work has definitely begun! Concrete is torn up and removed where the bridge will be. Super excited to see this finally get going!
ItsAllAboutMe post wrote:Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:52 pm
Construction fence is going up.
Maybe. Finally..
Fingers crossed …
Ciao..LiO…Peace
Drove by today on 10th, and work has definitely begun! Concrete is torn up and removed where the bridge will be. Super excited to see this finally get going!
Fantastic news. I think this will lead to so much more usage.
ItsAllAboutMe post wrote:Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:52 pm
Construction fence is going up.
Maybe. Finally..
Fingers crossed …
Ciao..LiO…Peace
Drove by today on 10th, and work has definitely begun! Concrete is torn up and removed where the bridge will be. Super excited to see this finally get going!
Fantastic news. I think this will lead to so much more usage.
Now I'll move on to wishing Lot D was developed into something more useful than a sea of concrete. A development like the Mercantile (parking ramp interior, apartments/retail exterior) would be great up there.
Hopefully they do. I believe Lot B is a consideration in the future? I know there were a few renderings drafted but no progress on that. Feel like a similar story might happen to Lot D. Might take a decade though.
Christopher Burbach
It’s had a mighty long gestation period, but the Baby Bob is finally being born.
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The mayors of Omaha and Council Bluffs joined other dignitaries to flash shiny shovels and heap praise on the projects in a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday.
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It should be completed by October 2024, Stothert said.
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Foster said the Kerrey Bridge had about one million visitors in 2022. The busiest month is June, he said, including a week when 40,000 people make their way to the bridge during the College World Series.
'Baby Bob' Coming Soon:
How it will connect pedestrians to North Downtown Omaha
It's a popular destination, the 3,000 foot Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge opened in 2008 but soon there will be a new addition connecting to North Downtown Omaha.
almighty_tuna wrote: Mon Jan 01, 2024 9:23 pm
Drove by the Baby Bob on the way to Eppley the other day and there are a few pylons completed already. Moving right along!
Shot photos of it yesterday, just haven’t edited them yet…
this is such an important bridge, seriously. There's a parking garage at the park on the CB side that is way underutilized right now, and it'd be super easy to park there and walk across the bridges to get to the CWS from the CB side without dealing with the same amount of traffic. I'm sure they will charge for it, but it's a nice walk and puts you right on the door step. Conversely, it will make it easy for people staying downtown to get to the CB side and explore the sky trail and climbing wall down at the river.
From that photo, the transition looks a little more fluid than the rendering, so that's good. I still wish they ended up complementing the big bridge better. But functionally speaking, this is a plus.
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