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  • NEW PLAN: A new idea would retain old Broadway Bridge and build new bridge parallel to the west.

Here’s an engineering blueprint for the surprise plan unveiled yesterday by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to build a new bridge alongside the existing Broadway Bridge rather than demolish and replace the structure.

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This arose because of huge local opposition to removal of the bridge and closure of the route — with a hellish downtown traffic impact — for as much as two years. Local highway commissioners got involved and a plan that couldn’t possibly be altered for a different location upstream suddenly has been altered for a different location upstream, if only slightly upstream.

It will be an engineering monstrosity — a jumble of concrete and steel with no unifying architectural look. It won’t be the defining landmark city dreamers once envisioned. But it will avoid a prolonged closure, though I’ve heard estimates of three weeks to three months for the changeover that will be necessary.

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So that you can see the drawings in larger relief than possible above, I’m giving you links to three PDFs.

1) A larger version of the new proposal shown above.

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2) The original plan to replace the bridge.

3) A plan that includes an alternative to avoid a major power line.

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