Referral to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee, to Discuss Questions Raised by Residents in the South of Fifth Neighborhood concerning the various options for connecting the Baywalk South to the Baywalk North Across 5th Street/MacArthur Causeway, including the feasibility of an “underpass” option in lieu of the proposed 5th Street Pedestrian Bridge Project.

Please place on the March 9, 2022 agenda a referral to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee to discuss Questions raised by residents in the South of Fifth Neighborhood, concerning the feasibility of alternative options for a connection of the Baywalk South to the Baywalk North across 5th Street/MacArthur Causeway.  Specifically, residents have questioned whether an “underpass” walkway that continues the Baywalk at grade and crosses under the MacArthur Causeway to connect the Baywalks would be more contextually appropriate in this heavily congested area at a major entrance to the City.

As part of the referral, I would request that the Administration come prepared to address any studies that have been previously undertaken regarding these issues, if any, identify any engineering or regulatory impedients to the concept of an “underpass,” and provide a status of the current 5th Street Pedestrian Bridge Project, both in terms of the contractual obligations the City has already entered into with respect to the 5th Street Pedestrian Bridge Project, and the status of regulatory permit approvals.