I’m sure many of us who have lived, visited, and gone through the I-25 / Colorado Boulevard corridor know that a new pedestrian bridge was under construction between Colorado Boulevard and Evans Avenue for many months. Unfortunately, it slipped through the cracks and we never covered the bridge from start to finish.
When I was out taking photographs of the new Colorado Center phase going up, I had to visit the bridge because it is a huge win for these neighborhoods. Pedestrian access across the highway in this area is very dismal, and overpasses are not the most pedestrian friendly piece of infrastructure. This is why we have these pedestrian bridges, much like the Highland Bridge; connecting the Highland neighborhood with the Central Platte Valley and beyond.
Let’s start off with what you’re actually crossing when using this bridge. The Evans Avenue overpass is just to the south with the Colorado Boulevard overpass at a decent distance to the north. As you can imagine, it’s not very easy for the immediate neighborhoods across the highway, such as Virginia Village, to get to the Colorado Boulevard Light-rail Station despite being so close.
Queue a shiny, new pedestrian bridge! Reminiscent of the Highland Bridge, this new bridge over I-25 has a similar arched design with cable supports.
On the Colorado Center side, ramps, for pedestrians and bicycles, lead up to the bridge. On the Virginia Village neighborhood side, there is both a long ramp and stair access.
One of the neatest elements I saw on this bridge were these little metal plaques that have walking quotes engraved on them. They are all over the center portion of the bridge. Next time you are in the area, make sure to walk the bridge and check out all of these plaques.
Pedestrian bridges are a great way for connecting two neighborhoods over existing infrastructure, such as I-25. What a great win for Denver!
Woo Hoo!!!! Enormous step in the right direction.
The bridge was placed too close to Evans – not very necessary there and it took away too much parking for people on the side street. If it were placed closer to Colorado, it would have been more practical.
Soooo…people on bikes are not pedestrians?
Technically, no, unless they are walking. What’s your point?
No, a bicycle is a vehicle, legally, and every moron on one will be a hazard to pedestrians. There should be some level of separation.
The one issue I have with this has been that the bridges could be so much more. Oklahoma City has a pretty cool pedestrian bridge of I-40, just south of downtown. I wish we were more creative with our bridges to where they were not just practical, but added something more to the city visually.