Image: Gotta admit it looks cool. But will it happen? Courtesy of Lukmire and Associates.
A footbridge between downtown’s new library and the Wayne Avenue garage can go from being a dull, utilitarian walkway to a slick, sky-high park, the project’s architects suggested.
Renderings presented at Thursday’s public meeting in ye olde library showed variations of a walkway with shrubbery planted on either side. A canopy would keep the walkway covered, while something more porous — maybe aluminum mesh — would hang over the plants and expose them to rain water, architect Bill Evans described.
Waist-high glass panels would separate pedestrians from the plants and the street below, and benches could be placed along the walkway, the renderings showed.
Think of New York’s recently completed High Line Park or Rosslyn’s Freedom Park, Evans said. Both parks are elevated above street level — the High-Line was built on old railway tracks, and Freedom Park used to be an automobile overpass — and both serve as pedestrian paths as well as open space.
Courtesy of Lukmire and Associates.
Evans and fellow architect Gregory Lukmire admitted that the illustrated bridges may not be up to snuff with county codes. Some of the area’s pedestrian bridges, like the one that worms beneath the Beltway at Georgia Avenue, have high railings, something missing from renderings by Evans and Lukmire. Ostensibly, such fencing prevents jumpers and television tossers from handling their business over heavy traffic, though it’s not clear whether it’s required by county code.
Another unknown was who would be responsible for maintaining the park-like bridge, the architects said. The proposed plants would need TLC at some point, and since the walkway wouldn’t be completely enclosed, it might need a little salt on snowy days.
Never mind that county council hasn’t yet approved the bridge’s construction. That issue is still in committee, and it’s unclear when a final decision will be reached. Proponents say the bridge would allow disabled visitors to dodge traffic on Wayne Avenue, as well as protect them from the elements. But some believe the bridge will obliterate street life on Wayne and encourage driving into the downtown area.
The council’s planning and human services committees whack at the proposed bridge construction on Tuesday in Rockville.
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Conceptually it’s a nice thought and a good way to dress up a utilitiarian bridge. In reality it would be a collosal waste of money (as is the bridge in general) since so few people will actually use the bridge compared to the pedestrians below. You simply can’t compare NYC highline park to this bridge–our population density is a tiny fraction of those surrounding the highline park…and the pedestrians using the bridge will be an equally tiny fraction.
This is a classic example of a project that is well-intentioned, but completely unecessary. The more pulicity it gets, the more bloated it becomes.
Uh, and just how long do you think those plants are going to live in those little boxes without proper maintenance and replacement when they get potbound. Montgomery County can’t even keep alive the little liriope plants in the median of GA avenue, how are they going to take care of this?
Considering how poorly maintained the sidewalks are in Silver Spring during freezing rain and snowfall, it will be great to see a somewhat open to the elements bridge, designed with elderly and disabled use in mind, rendered uttlerly useless when the elements make it slick and hazardous to walk on.
When they build this bridge (and they will), I am going to sit at the end of it with a counter and see how many honest-to-God disabled people use it in a day and then we’ll see the real value of this unnecessary $700K bridge. How much money have we already wasted on repeated meetings and concept drawings???
In the drawing, I only see able-bodied people walking on the bridge. WTF is that? I thought this stupid bridge was supposed to be for disabled people.
Senior citizens and people in wheelchairs can cross Wayne Ave. at street level with no problems. Seriously.
I like the creativity that the architects are displaying with their latest rendering of the pedestrian bridge. I personally won’t use the bridge since I live within walking distance of the proposed site of the new library but if it is decided that there needs to be a bridge, I hope that they go with this design. I like the fact that it is not enclosed and that plants will line the side of the bridge. There is a roof so the bridge walkway would have some cover during inclement weather. I like the concept buy worry that there will be a bait-and-switch and what we will actually get is some shitty-looking pedestrian bridge.
This is getting so elaborate, maybe we should bring back the people who wanted to build that mall with the indoor roller coaster and water park – now there’s some stuff that would really make the bridge exciting!
IHateYuppies, excellent observation.
How about they shut down traffic on Wayne Ave all together except maybe for access in and out of the garage. That would save the 700k for the bridge and make it easy for everyone to get into the library.
The bridge is less expensive than building handicapped parking on the library site and is a good solution to the handicapped access requirements. I really don’t see what all the complains are about. Let’s get on with getting the new library built!
Another fine example of the pointless pie-in-the-sky approach by the county council in looking at endless plans for everything, each fancier than the other, and then delivering on……………..nothing !!
It does LOOK nice — I worry about those benches there encouraging naps/overnight visitors – last time I was in Cincinnati I used their similar habitrail (between hotels and shops) system and quickly realized that it was just me and the vagrants – none of the locals used it, preferring the cold streets – NOT a very safe feeling and probably a serious lawsuit/safety liability.
Let’s see, for $700K SS could:
fix the awful, strut-busting, pot holes along Colesville Rd. and Georgia Ave that extend down into the depths purgatory
hire an additional officer or firefighter for a period of ten years or more
invest in another ems unit or fire truck
convene a committee to address homelessness
fix those neglected plants (and more!) mentioned earlier
continue operating sligo golf course for a few more years
I’m sure there are other things.
I totally agree with the comment about the weather as well. You know those signs “bridge ices before road.” The same goes for pedestrian bridges. Air streams pass below and above the bridge which, given cold and wet weather, render the darn thing useless before the regular roads freeze over.