On Thursday, June 6, 2019, Anchorage Park Foundation with Municipality of Anchorage Parks and Recreation celebrated the completion of a new bridge at South Westchester Lagoon. The “Pop-up Celebration” was joined by design and construction teams from R&M Consultants and Bettisworth North as well as neighbors from the nearby South Addition and Turnagain neighbors. Even Rep. Matt Claman of Anchorage dropped by on his bike.
Check out coverage from KTVA’s Scott Grossman HERE.
“The final touches on a bridge replacement along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail are finally complete. The bridge at the south end of Westchester Lagoon is the fourth to be replaced after an engineering report found five bridges in the area structurally unsound.
“We’ve been kind of waiting for the weather to just break on us and this is really one of the first summer weeks we’ve had,” said Senior Park Planner Maeve Nevins-Lavtar. “We spontaneously picked today and it’s actually, what a blessing, look, there are so many beautiful, beautiful sites and ducks and everything so its a great day to get out on the trails.”
The completion of the project was celebrated with a pop-up ribbon cutting ceremony on the bridge. Beth Nordlund, the executive director of the Anchorage Park Foundation, said part of the thanks goes to Anchorage voters, who have supported their bonds.
The bridge was completed ahead of schedule in late May just before Memorial Day. With the work complete, Nordlund says there will soon be a mile marker up on the trail.
“This one is so significant because it is the last one and if not arguably the most important because this is a landmark site for people to come to, especially if they are coming from downtown or from the adjacent neighborhoods,” Nevins-Lavtar said.
The bridge was built in the form of its old footprint, but with lower railings built with safety in mind to deter small children from climbing on them. The community wanted lower railings so they could see more of the wildlife and surroundings from the bridge.
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