South Denver to get a $15 million bike-and-pedestrian bridge
Denver Ite
Construction of a new bike-and-pedestrian bridge will soon get underway in south Denver’s Overland neighborhood.
The new bridge will cross Santa Fe Drive and a major rail corridor, linking the Overland Golf Course area to a stretch of South Broadway.
This week, the Denver City Council approved a $2.5 million contract to buy materials for the new bridge, but the total cost will range from $15 million to $20 million.
The city describes it as an important new connection, linking the South Platte River Trail with neighborhoods on the east side of the rail corridor.
The bridge will cross a 370-foot span. Its endpoints will be near West Jewell Avenue on either side of the corridor. This stretch of Broadway is home to businesses like FashioNation, Corvus Coffee Roasters and the Brutal Poodle.
The next closest option for pedestrians is the West Evans Avenue bridge. That’s about a quarter-mile south, and they have to share it with four lanes of fast-moving auto traffic.
Let’s get more specs on this bridge
The bridge will stand as high as 30 feet above the railroad tracks, according to city documents. Instead of having elevators, it will have long, disability-accessible ramps, as well as stairs.
Construction is expected to start next spring, with completion at the end of 2026 or early 2027.
Another contract for the rest of the project will have to be approved later.
Voters originally approved money for this project as part of the nearly $1-billion Elevate Denver bonds package in 2017, and we saw mention of it in city plans as far back as 2009.
Denver’s east-west barrier needs more connections
The new bridge won’t solve all the area’s bike-and-ped problems. The South Platte River to the west of the Overland golf course is another barrier.
The city has also talked about building another pedestrian bridge nearby, across the South Platte River. That one would also run along West Jewell Avenue. Combined with this current project, it would create a significant east-west route — but that is not an active or funded project.