DOWNTOWN BRIDGE OPEN HOUSES PROVIDE FORUMS FOR PUBLIC INPUT ON BRIDGE DESIGN
An attendee of the September 2005 Downtown Bridge Open House examines an aerial view.
September 2005 -- Two consecutive open houses took place on Tuesday, September 20 and Thursday, September 22, inviting public comment and feedback for the Bridge Type Selection Process for the New Downtown Bridge.
The four-step process for the Ohio River Bridges Project is currently concluding the final stages of Step One. During Step One, the bridge teams focused on developing the guidelines for the downtown bridge in a series of public meetings and open houses. After introducing project parameters, the public was offered the opportunity to provide their thoughts for project approaches that would fit those parameters. The input received from the public will then be incorporated into a document showing both parameters and the public’s suggested direction for the project. This information will then be incorporated into final guidelines in October 2005. Step Two of the process will begin as the team considers the development of actual bridge concepts for public consideration. Public input into the concepts will also be sought at the end of Step Two.
Each of the open houses included self-guided exhibit tours, including detailed information about the project’s history, the design parameters, and the bridge type selection process. Also, attendees had the option of attending one of two identical presentations to learn about the new bridge from J.B. Williams, section two project manager, John Dietrick of the Baker engineering and design firm, and Skip Smallridge, context-sensitive design consultant.
Williams and Dietrick provided details about the project parameters and preliminary design, and educated the audience about the project’s commitments, and Smallridge explained the critical role of context-sensitive design. Context-sensitive design is a collaborative approach between design teams and citizens to address safety, mobility, and purpose and the need, in conjunction with the preservation of scenic, aesthetic, historic, environmental and community issues. The project parameters outlined specific factors of the project, such as the location of the bridge alignment, clearance area measurements, the bridge-cross section, environmental commitments and costs.
These parameters then allow the project team and the public to work together to determine the design guidelines. For example, required clearances dictate there is an 800-foot minimum horizontal navigational clearance and a 71-foot minimum vertical navigational clearance. By outlining these parameters based on information from the Coast Guard, environmental factors and engineering requirements, the community can focus on elements that are flexible.
As the public becomes aware of the project parameters, they are able to ask informed questions and offer input that takes the parameters into account.
Other issues addressed in the presentations included environmental commitments such as noise, historic structures and impact on parklands. In addition, the speakers outlined the design guideline specifics, such as traffic lane-width, construction, aesthetics and compatibility with the surrounding area.
During the first open house, held at the 300 Spring Street meeting facility in Jeffersonville on September 20, Laura Toole followed the presentation by asking the audience for input. Attendees provided their opinions about the design of the bridge and amenities that were most critical from their perspectives. Questions included concerns about lighting, vibration and noise, construction material staging areas and incentives to limit construction delays. Several attendees simply offered their opinion on what type of bridge appealed to them – and suggestions ranged from attention-getting cable-stayed bridges to designs that mirrored the Kennedy Bridge nearby.
A major concern raised was the accessibility of the pedestrian and bike path. Another popular topic was the proximity of the new bridge to the existing Kennedy Bridge. Several attendees were concerned that due to the fact that the bridges will be right next to one another, that a contrasting design would be inconsistent with the look of the Kennedy Bridge.
The second meeting, held on Thursday, September 22 at the Frazier Historical Arms Museum in downtown Louisville, followed the same format, with self-guided tours available throughout the facility and two identical presentations at two different times (5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.) to provide flexibility for attendees.
Again, after the initial overview presentation by Williams and Dietrick, audience members weighed in and offered their opinions, asking questions and commenting on design features. Attendees asked how construction staging would be managed, questioned the cost of maintaining different bridge types, addressed barge traffic concerns and the possibility of opening the pedestrian/bike lanes up for emergency traffic purposes (ambulance, evacuation route). A couple of attendees felt strongly that the bridge should be “iconic” and make a bold statement.
Dietrick said there is actually no such thing as a “maintenance-free” bridge and that the bridge would likely require maintenance no matter what. The new bridge will feature twelve-foot shoulders to accommodate emergency or maintenance vehicles, when necessary.
All comments and suggestions by meeting attendees were recorded and will be considered as engineers develop options for the bridge design. At the conclusion of each presentation, Toole discussed the upcoming open house events and step two of the project, with initial concepts scheduled to be presented later this year (2005) and alternatives addressed in early 2006. Visit the upcoming events page for the announcement of future meetings as well as additional information about the overall project.
Important Upcoming Dates
Step Two Open Houses – Bridge Design Concepts:
November 29 – 4:00-8:00 p.m., Frazier Arms Historical Museum, 829 W. Main St., Louisville, KY
December 1 – 4:00-8:00 p.m., The 300 Spring Building, 300 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN
Open Houses: Alternatives (Early 2006)