Grand Avenue Bridge Design Team Presented Revised Design Elements
The Design Elements Issue Task Force (ITF) reconvened to comment on the refined options based on input from their March meeting, the two Stakeholder Working Group (SWG) workshops, and the City Council. An SWG workshop was held the following day. The project team asked for the participants’ concurrence with the options updated from the previous meetings and presented some new concepts for consideration. The discussions were about the options for finishes and materials that will contribute to how the project would fit the Glenwood Springs historic and community character.
Options were presented for the Grand Avenue Bridge, the pedestrian bridge, the plaza area under the Grand Avenue Bridge and between 7th and 8th Streets, landscaping and the pedestrian/bicycle under pass on the north side of the river, walls, and wayfinding/signage.
Participants at the meetings were generally pleased with how the project team had incorporated their suggestions from the March meetings. A few design elements will require further development, including the rail elements in the downtown area and gateway elements for the Grand Avenue Bridge; the roofs, railing, and shape and size of the overlooks on the pedestrian bridge; the level of landscaping elements for the project; and the final layout of the elevator and stairs connecting the new pedestrian bridge and 7th Street.
The stakeholder feedback received on the project design elements and input from the City Council provide the basis for the recommendations that the design team will present to the Project Working Group (PWG) on April 21. The PWG has representatives from the funding and approving agencies for the project—CDOT Region 3; CDOT Staff Bridge; Colorado Bridge Enterprise; Federal Highway Administration, Colorado Division; and the City of Glenwood Springs. After the PWG’s review and recommendations for the design elements, the design team will incorporate them in the project design plans.
The presentations from the Design Elements ITF and SWG workshop and meeting summaries are posted at CDOT’s project website: http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/sh82grandavenuebridge.
Those wanting to receive project updates can sign up via CDOT’s free message system by going to www.coloradodot.info and clicking on green cell phone in the upper right hand side of the page. After signing in, scroll down to “Projects” and choose “SH 82 Aspen to Glenwood.”
The project is funded through the Colorado Bridge Enterprise, a government-owned business entity within CDOT. The Colorado General assembly created the statewide Bridge Enterprise via Senate Bill 09-108, also known as FASTER (Funding Advancements for Surface Treatment and Economic Recovery www.coloradodot.info/projects/faster).The purpose of the Bridge Enterprise is to complete designated bridge projects that involve the financing, repair, reconstruction and replacement of bridges designated as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and rated “poor” by CDOT.
