It didn’t get much press, and in fact most of the people I know didn’t even hear about it. Nevertheless, the City Council voted in late May to demolish the 7th Street bridge over the Trinity to replace it with a new bridge which will be able to accommodate the Cultural District line of the under-planning modern streetcar system.
A small step towards the streetcar, but a step nonetheless. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with for a replacement design.
Who is involved in selecting the design of the new bridge? This will be a great opportunity to build an iconic bridge. I also hope that the bridge offers really wide sidewalks and bike lanes.
Great news. Would love to see a streetcar connecting downtown and the cultural district. Is there any kind of rough schedule available?
does this mean street car is for sure if they’re gonna blow up a bridge for it?
I believe part of the reason was that the bridge was slated for expansion, and in a recent review of bridges, this bridge was determined to be in bad condition. Is that correct Kevin?
I think a bridge with some sort of top element (something going across the road way, above traffic) would be nice. Nothing as exotic as the Brooklyn Bridge of course, just something with some visual appeal. That, or a retro design with a low profile and a stone railing all along the sides.
The 7th Street bridge is in deficient structural condition. There were two proposals to remedy this:
1. Rehab the existing bridge to bring it up to par structurally.
2. Demolish the bridge and build a new bridge that would have more room to accommodate the streetcar line.
The council decided to go with 2. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the streetcar is a done deal, but without replacing the bridge the line wouldn’t happen. By replacing it now, we will remove a big roadblock to the streetcar line for the Cultural District. It does indicate strong support for the streetcar proposal from the city.
What is the time line for something like this? When will it happen and how long will it take? Merchants on the westside of the bridge will suffer while the bridge is under construction as the downtown traffic will most likely be diverted to Lancaster. Many of the customers for those merchants work or live in downtown.