Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Little Rock Government Broadway Bridge design winners announced
Posted by Max Brantley on Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 12:31 PM
Metroplan today announced that Bob Dahms and Randy Murphy had tied in the design competition for a replacement for the Broadway Bridge. Since we ran Murphy's classical design earlier, I've put Dahms' more modern structure atop today. It's called a cable stay bridge, with a single spire, and is similar to a Mississippi River bridge at Greenville, Miss.
The design contest is just part of a PR campaign to press the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to do something exciting with its design work. These designs won't actually be used. More details here.
I'm sticking with my preference for a modestly priced functional new span at Chester Street (my sources insist it could tie into North Little Rock roadways without a major conflict with the railroad bridge to the east) and then plan comprehensively for an architectural marvel at Broadway after a traffic safety valve is in place. I might retire in 2013 rather than face the traffic nightmare otherwise sure to ensue. (Don't everybody cheer that at once.)
North Little Rock Mayor Pat Hays mentioned, by the way, that replacing the Broadway Bridge immediately isn't the only option. He mentioned that it could stay open until there's a consensus on what should be done. I guess that could include design as well as another span.
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Comments (12)
Showing 1-12 of 12
Don't retire!!! In 2013 move downtown to Argenta and ride the trolley back and forth to work avoiding the bridge traffic
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I think the National Guard can put up a classic antique pontoon bridge (iconic as hell) instead of these highfalutin' designs for a bridge that is never seen by ANYBODY except those driving across it.
The illustration and description do not match. The bridge pictured above shows a single spire rising from the center of the bridge. The Greenville bridge is not a single spire bridge because the uprights rise on both sides of the outer bridge lanes. If built as shown the center lane of traffic would be blocked by the spire in the center of the bridge.
Au Contrare! While sometimes peevish, you are often the only voice crying in the wilderness! Keep howling!
Except for 120,000 average daily traffic that crosses the I-30 bridge. Or the 11,000 average daily traffic that crosses the Main Street Bridge. Or the 21,000 that cross the Broadway Bridge. So 152,000 average is "never seen by ANYBODY"?
http://uglybridges.com/ar/pulaski/exhibit/
Keep sounding the alarm, Max. The traffic nightmare may push me into a somehat early retirement, also.
Nuttyirish: Thank God I never cross the I-30 bridge at the same time you're busy gawking at the Broadway Bridge way off to the west. If you gawk at it while dodging the streetcars and other drivers on the Main Street Bridge, you are a menace.
Max, do you mean to tell us that you don't work from home in your house slippers?
Metroplan, LRCofC, and the City Board giving the citizens of Little Rock a giant finger; too, too appropriate a design for our fair city.
You mean you call this work? I thought you were already at home in slippers and a two day beard with some bourbon and cheese crackers.
Claude, some people actually have more than just one person in their cars. The point is, it is a focal point primarily because its design stands out from the utilitarian I-30 and Main Street bridges. It’s the same reason the two railroad bridges do as well, especially from the Three high rise hotels on the Little Rock side, Dickey Stephens Park in North Little Rock and both riverfront parks. All of which are some of the most heavily trafficked areas by visitors.
CB,
What the hell are you talking about? Have you even driven on the Main Street bridge? The streetcar tracks are separated from the cars by a wall so what do you mean dodging streetcars on the bridge?
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