On September 30, 2016, the Mayor and Commission approved a referral item to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC) regarding the potential placement of a pedestrian bridge connecting the City’s planned Interceptor garage at 1623 West Avenue to the private development parking garage of the “1600 Alton” project developed by Crescent Heights.
The CIP Department received a preliminary pedestrian bridge concept design from the DCP (design criteria professional), Desman and Associates. The estimated cost of the pedestrian bridge is $300,000. The Administration provided Crescent Heights with the preliminary pedestrian bridge concept design and $300,000 cost estimate for their review and consideration to accept and fund the pedestrian bridge project. Subsequently, the Administration received the following response from Crescent Heights:
Crescent Heights, the developer, has no objection to the connection and can work with the City to adjust the building to accommodate it. However, they are not prepared to pay for it as they see parking demand actually going down due to behavioral changes (more use of car sharing, etc.).
As a result, in order to proceed with the pedestrian bridge connector, the City would need to fund the estimated $300,000 expense. In addition to the City having to fund the pedestrian bridge connector, the Administration is concerned with the City’s garage and its lower parking rates being the first and more attractive parking option for patrons of the private development. This could likely result in limited or reduced parking availability to serve the intended purpose of the interceptor parking garage.
The concept of providing a pedestrian bridge access from the City’s interceptor garage to this private development and the Alton Road corridor has a limited public purpose. Moreover, the developer’s reluctance to fund the pedestrian bridge further dilutes advantages to this narrow public benefit.