It's been two years since the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation gave $20 million to build the SHoP-designed West Thames Pedestrian Bridge, but, in case you haven't noticed, that bridge has not been built. Things have been pretty much at a standstill, but the Broadsheet Daily reports that the Battery Park City Authority is "closed to finalizing an agreement" that would allow construction to start within 12 months. "Our objective is a timeline that will get this project physically under way before the year 2013 is out," said Broadsheet's anonymous source. The bridge's price tag has grown from $21 million to $27 million, and the BPCA will be covering what the LMDC's donation does not.
BPCA will likely turn construction management over to the city, and the authority is currently preparing the final documents to get approval from the Comptroller and the mayor. Once they have approval, the designs have to be translated into detailed architectural and construction drawings before ground can break. So basically, the bridge is still lightyears away.
But whenever it does finally appear, the 240-foot-long structure will span West Thames and West Streets, where eight lanes of traffic meet the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. The wooden "lenticular truss" will have a swooping metal frame, and it will be handicap-accessible.
· A Bridge Too Far? [Broadsheet Daily]
· West Thames Pedestrian Bridge coverage [Curbed]
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