Railroad Reservation pedestrian bridge

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The Railroad Reservation pedestrian bridge was a proposed pedestrian and bicycle connection over the Railroad Reservation at 16th Street. It would have connected Railroad Park and Parkside on the south with the Birmingham Intermodal Facility and Innovation District on the north.

The pedestrian bridge would lie midway between two underpass connections, at 14th Street and 18th Street, both of which had been augmented with colored LED lighting as part of the "Birmingham Lights" project.

The bridge originally appeared as part of a presentation of the design of the Intermodal Facility in October 2011. Mayor William Bell commissioned an engineering study to project the cost of the project in 2012. With the Birmingham City Council's approval, MBA Engineers performed the study for $44,200 from revenues raised from the downtown area's designation as a "tax increment financing" district. Bell planned to use the construction estimates to apply for federal transportation grant funding.

It was anticipated that construction of the bridge would coincide with that of the $30 million Intermodal Facility, with hopes that it could be opened in 2013, during the "50 Years Forward" year-long recognition of the semi-centennial anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham Campaign and the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, a landmark on the same street as the bridge.

Additional funds for what was anticipated to be a $2.5 million project were included in the $150 million bond referendum approved in October. In 2014 the city again contracted with MBA Engineers for $295,400 to prepare preliminary designs for the pedestrian bridge. In 2015 the city reached an agreement with CSX Transportation to perform engineering services for the planned bridge with a fee capped at $13,420.

References

  • Bryant, Joseph D. (June 5, 2012) "Birmingham mayor proposes downtown pedestrian bridge." The Birmingham News
  • Hardison, Jonathan (June 19, 2012) "City to spend $44,000 on pedestrian bridge study." WBRC.com
  • Bryant, Joseph D. (February 6, 2014) "Form and function: Design work underway for downtown Birmingham pedestrian bridge linking north, south." The Birmingham News
  • Godwin, Brent (October 7, 2015) "Birmingham working with CSX on pedestrian bridge to Railroad Park." Birmingham Business Journal