Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 28, 1994 TAG: 9406300070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
City Council on Monday put the finishing touches on the plan for a $3.2 million pedestrian walkway across the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, approving $120,000 in additional design work to extend the footbridge to a proposed conference center adjacent to the hotel.
According to council's wishes, the new scheme would add an 80-foot-long covered walkway, or loggia, between the hotel and the conference center. The city must foot the entire bill for the $135,000 loggia, bringing its share of the project's cost to $200,000.
If all goes according to plan, bids for the project will go out in July, and they could be opened by the end of August. The project is subject to the approval of the Virginia Department of Transportation, which is providing 98 percent of the corridor's cost, excepting the walkway to the conference center.
The city hopes to have the project completed by late spring or early summer 1995. Because a contractor has not been chosen, city officials were vague as to when it would be opened to pedestrian traffic.
"The best-case scenario is April 1 ... Realistically, it may take a few months longer," said City Manager Bob Herbert.
City officials have long considered a pedestrian walkway the solution to a perilous railroad crossing on Jefferson Street. The at-grade crossing has been the only way for pedestrians to cross the tracks since an underground walkway between Norfolk and Shenandoah avenues was closed.
Discussions about the elevated corridor began last October, and have incorporated the ideas of local residents, architects, downtown business leaders and politicians.
The project also has been accelerated to coincide as much as possible with the hotel renovation project. The hotel is expected to open next spring.
The price tag also has risen - from $2.1 million when the project first was announced to $3.2 million. That figure is subject to change, depending on bids received.
The walkway will run from the First Union parking garage to the hotel's driveway and will be 25 feet above the Norfolk Southern tracks. It will be 15 feet wide, except for a 39-foot-wide viewing platform directly above the tracks.
The city advertised its willingness to hold a public hearing about the project from May 9 through June 8, but received only one request that was later withdrawn, Herbert said.
The only question raised about the walkway Monday came from Patton Avenue resident Helen Davis. She asked how pedestrians will cross at Jefferson Avenue after the crossing is closed.
The answer: They will face a detour of roughly 200 feet to access the pedestrian bridge.
by CNB