This isn't going to help the proposed pedestrian bridge for the Red Line Universal City/Studio City stop make any new friends: its cost has increased by $7.5 million, to $27 million, reports the Daily News. Metro officials will go to the agency's board on Thursday to ask for an ok on the price increase on the bridge across Lankershim Boulevard. The walkway, part of a nineties-era compromise between Metro and Universal, is meant to help commuters get between the subway and the Universal Studios tram and nearby office buildings (the studio is covering a whopping $3.9 million). But the inflated price is giving fuel to those opposed to the bridge, like Streetsblog's Damien Newton. Aside from catering to cars, he says "The project is a bad idea for many reasons ... The cost, the reality that too often people choose to ignore pedestrian bridges and the intersections will no longer be timed for pedestrians to cross at street level." Another glaring problem, according to Newton, is that the bridge, designed by Rios Clementi Hale, only connects three corners of the intersection--and there's a bus terminal on the corner not connected to the bridge.
· Lankershim Boulevard pedestrian bridge price tag tops $27 million [Daily News]
· Op/Ed – Before Garcetti Can Be the Hero, He Needs to Slay the Zombies [Streetsblog]
Loading comments...