Echo Lakes, Westfield & North Shore neighborhoods could get new pedestrian bridge

This pic is just an example of what COULD be designed. Nothing definite has been developed yet.

Anyone who has tried to walk across the Carver Canal on North Shore Drive knows it can be a hair-raising trip.

One side of the street has no sidewalk. The other side has a sidewalk, but with nothing separating walkers from cars it can get pretty tight!

That's why the city next week will vote on whether to apply for grant money to build a pedestrian bridge next to the existing roadway bridge.

The bridge would connect pedestrians to BAK Middle School of the Arts, the North Shore and Westfield neighborhoods, and other community services such as the St. John Fisher Catholic Church. There is also a city park located at the intersection of Haden Avenue and Pinehurst Drive.

If approved by the City Commission next week, the city will submit an application for the money next month. The process of getting the money takes a while. Design of the bridge would start in 2017. The total cost of the project is projected to be about $750,000.

This is the first public project of its kind in the city in many years.