King Bridge Partnership

1
King Bridge Partnership

• A partnership of
• The Kingfield and Bryant Neighborhood
  Organizations

2
Project Mission

• To reconnect South Minneapolis neighborhoods
  through the construction of a pedestrian bridge
  over I-35W at 40th Street that will serve as an
  iconic gateway to Minneapolis.

3
South Minneapolis prior to I35W Circa (1960)
4
Project Goals

• The new bridge will be
• Safe
• Artistically significant
• Environmentally sensitive
• Functional
• A capstone for the RiverLake Greenway
• An asset to the neighborhoods and the City

5
Why a New Bridge is Needed

• The existing bridge
• Is a minimally utilitarian and aesthetically
  unappealing structure built in 1965
• Was designed with little input from the community
• Represents an attempt to pacify a community that
  was torn apart when the freeway trench was
  constructed
• Hindered the connection between mostly low income
  nonwhite residents and mostly middle class white
  residents
• Is unmemorable and unattractive when viewed from
  the freeway
•    

6
Why a New Bridge is Needed

• Has overgrown, dangerous and inaccessible
  approaches
• Does not provide safe passage for children or
  adults to the community center at Martin Luther
  King Park
• Is a critical substandard component of the
  4.5-mile RiverLake Greenway that connects Lake
  Harriet and the Mississippi River
• Is invisible and uninviting for pedestrians and
  bicyclists traversing the RiverLake Greenway
• Has an 8-0 wide deck that is substandard for
  current bicycle and pedestrian use
• Is underutilized due to the above conditions

7
Reconnecting Old Friends
The bridge will act as a capstone to the
RiverLake Greenway.

• The RiverLake Greenway
• Is a grassroots project involving six
  neighborhoods
• Begun in 1995, the RiverLake Greenway will link
  six City parks, several commercial nodes,
  churches, and other important neighborhood
  institutions
• Provides a critical third east-west link for
  non-motorized transit across South Minneapolis
• The RiverLake Greenway is scheduled to be
  completed in 2008

8
Strengthening Community Connections

• Currently 60 percent of the kids who use MLK park
  are from the East Side of I-35W
• Park staff reports that at times kids run across
  the current bridge because theyre afraid theyll
  be trapped on the bridge

9
Design Vision

•         Reconnect neighbors and a community
  separated
• decades ago
•      Reflect the history, needs and aspirations
  of the
• surrounding communities
•      Designed by a qualified, creative or design
  
• team selected by a Request for
  Qualifications
• (RFQ)
•      Safe for shared bicycle and pedestrian use
•      Flanked by entrance gateways that support
  and
• enhance the bridge design and facilitate
  safe
• access
•  

10
Design Vision

• The result of a precedent-setting organizational
  model that incorporates architectural and
  artistic prominence into a meaningful citizen
  participation process
• Become a landmark structure for the RiverLake
  Greenway
• Encourage city residents and visitors to embrace
  non-motorized transportation
• Become a source of civic pride for Minneapolitans
  and an inspiration for an estimated 200,000
  people who travel under the bridge every day

11
What is possible
12
What is undesirable
13
WEBB BRIDGE Melbourne, Australia
Span 361 feet Cost 1.75 million Completion
date 11.02 Architect Denton Corker Marshall
Architects
14
PUENTE DE LA MUJER Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires
Span 525 feet Cost 5 million Completion date
12.01 Architect Santiago Calatrava
15
Design Process

• The King Bridge Partnership will be responsible
  for the design process of the new bridge
• The basics of the design process will be
• Recruit an advisory committee to assist with
  design and funding
• Establish guidelines for an RFQ process
• Secure design funding
•  Identify possible designers and distribute RFQs
• Select short list of designer/design teams to
  develop preliminary
• plans. (The plans will recognize
  MnDOTs standards and specifications)
•  Select design finalist(s)
•  Offer design commission and upon acceptance
• Develop a preliminary project schedule from
  design through
• construction
•  Develop a construction budget    

16
Next Steps

• Step 1 Continue to engage residents and
  community leaders (this will be ongoing
  throughout the process)
• Step 2 Secure support from local elected
  officials for project
• Step 3 Begin to seek funding (private public)
• Step 4 Begin Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
  process
• Step 5 Secure support from residents and
  community leaders for
• design
• Step 6 Secure funding for final design and
  project construction.
• Step 7 Construct bridge
• Step 8 Dedicate bridge
• Step 9 - Celebrate

17
Contact Info

• For more information on the King Bridge
  Partnership contact
• Mark Hinds
• _at_
• mjhinds_at_earthlink.net
• _at_
• 612.598.9188