A pedestrian bridge connecting India Point Park, an 18-acre waterfront park, with the Wickenden business district will likely reopen this fall after closing for construction during the relocation of Interstate 195.
The 8-foot-wide bridge spanning I-195 was built in the 1970s and closed on Sept. 12, 2005, said Lambri Zerva, design project manager for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. The bridge, which is being rebuilt, is tentatively expected to open in September, two years after its closure.
Zerva said the highway relocation required that a new bridge be built because the old bridge's piers would have obstructed the new road links.
"The new bridge took up space where the old bridge was, so we couldn't keep the old one and build the new one at the same time. Unfortunately, (taking down the old bridge) was a necessary evil," he added.
Zerva said he estimates rebuilding the bridge will cost around $10 million. When completed, the new "pedestrian-friendly" bridge will be 48 feet wide, with fencing and plants along the sides, Zerva said.
David Riley, co-director of Friends of India Point Park, said the old bridge was worn-out and slippery.
"It was like a cage surrounded by a chain-link fence, like a tunnel and treacherously slippery especially during the winter. It was horrible," he said.
Riley said the bridge is mostly used April through October. He said it would be "a shame" if people are not able to use it before the coming winter.
Marjorie Powning, also co-director of Friends of India Point Park, said residents of the neighborhood and others who frequent the park will be "excited" to have the bridge back.
"The park was badly impacted by construction and the neighborhood didn't have convenient access to it," she said.
Powning said she hopes the landscaping of the bridge will be completed soon.
"Landscaping is a very important phase of the project for more than just aesthetic value," she said. Landscaping will make the bridge "more hospitable" because it will help settle sand and dirt from construction, she said.
Brown students who used the bridge before it was closed are eager to have it back.
"The bridge would just give us a more direct route to the boathouse," wrote Ariana Cannavo '08, a member of the women's crew team, in an e-mail to The Herald, referring to the Marston Boathouse located next to the park.
Cannavo also wrote that she missed running over the bridge.
"I personally used the bridge in the summers of '02 and '03 when I was a Summer@Brown high school student. So being able to run over it once again will remind me of the days when I dreamed that I would one day be an actual Brown student," she wrote.
Ben Liotta '07 said the park used to be "a great place" to walk, run and study.
"The closing of the bridge and the highway project ruined the park. The old bridge was really old and narrow. It'd be nice to have a big bridge, but in my opinion it is more important to return the park to the way it was," he said.
Powning said Friends of India Point Park is planning to organize an event celebrating the bridge's reopening.
"We are planning to have a celebration in the fall around the end of September," she said.
Riley said the celebration might be postponed until next spring if too much construction work is left after the bridge reopens.
"We really want them to open it as close to Sept. 12. We may put off our celebration until the spring if it's really ugly down there," he said.
