Transportation infrastructure as civic architecture: Nice Bridge, Potomac River crossing to Virginia

Recently, Governor Hogan announced that previously promised pedestrian and bicycle connections for the to be rebuilt Nice Bridge are "too expensive" ("Maryland sheds light on decision to cut protected bike lane from Nice Bridge," WTOP-radio).


Of course, not unlike how tax cuts leading to high deficits lead the Republicans to propose cuts to most domestic programs outside of military spending, one of the first things Gov. Hogan did in his first term was cut tolls, which of course, reduced the revenue stream to invest in toll bridge and tunnel improvements ("Governor Hogan Rolls Back Tolls Statewide – Saving Marylanders $54 million a year").

Of course, now there's not enough money to build complete bridges.

The Peace Bridge in Calgary, Alberta is a walking and cycling bridge over the Bow River, designed by Santiago Calatrava (who has gotten many such. commissions, since designing a unique pedestrian bridge as part of the focus on startling architecture as part of Bilbao's revitalization planning).




It made me think about how instead of looking at such connections as a "cost" for the Nice Bridge, why not think about it in terms of civic architecture and embellishment in a manner that promotes tourism and other economic development goals?

-- "Transit, stations, and placemaking: stations as entrypoints into neighborhoods," 2013
-- "DC's bad urban design as it relates to new transportation infrastructure," 2013
-- "The Anacostia River and considering the bridges as a unit and as a premier element of public art and civic architecture," 2014
-- "Transportation infrastructure as a key element of civic architecture/economic revitalization #1: the NoMA Metrorail Station," 2016
-- "Transportation Infrastructure and Civic Architecture #3: Rhode Island Avenue Pedestrian Bridge to the Metrorail station," 2016
-- "Transportation infrastructure as civic architecture," 2016

Similarly, another photo I came across was of the Dorogomilovsky Bridge in Moscow, which has an architectural lighting treatment. Again, think of the bridges that connect Maryland and Virginia as opportunities for delight instead of merely value engineered crossings?


Photo by Dmitri Popatov.