Alaska’s proposed $398 million bridge linking Ketchikan and Gravina Island was infamously labeled as the “bridge to nowhere.” Today, it is invoked to demonstrate the controversial problems of Congressional pork-barrel spending and earmarks.
Alaska isn’t alone in bridge controversy. Salt Lake City is embattled over City Creek’s proposed skybridge over Main Street. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and developers Taubman Centers label the skybridge as integral to the $1.5 billion City Creek Center and provide details showing how the success of the project is intertwined with a skybridge. Others disagree, fearing it will remove people from the street, and instead of revitalization, the downward spiral of downtown Salt Lake City would continue.
The purpose of the skybridge is to link the former ZCMI Center and Crossroads Mall into a single unit — the City Creek Center. However, this reveals a serious design flaw and raises the question of whether two malls can exist mere blocks away from one another.
Regardless, the design certainly ignores what makes the Gateway a success. Rather than considered simply as connecting two units, the Gateway is a sprawling network of streets and connections that make the mall accessible and mimic bi-level main streets, complete with streets intersecting numerous portions of the mall. Plus, do Panache patrons fear and avoid the long, treacherous, car-riddled trek across Main Street to visit Sam Weller’s? Certainly not.
Sure, the skybridge will eliminate the annoyance of pushing a crosswalk button and the 30-second to one-minute wait to cross the street — the same way those automated towel dispenser and sensor-activated toilets make public bathrooms a more enjoyable experience. However, with the 10 million expected annual visitors, car traffic along Main Street and pedestrian safety are big concerns.
So why not shut down a few of Main Street’s blocks to vehicle traffic and instead create a true pedestrian paradise? This would allow a conformable consumer zone for City Creek Center customers and other Main Street businesses.
What the skybridge will do is increase the developers’ and land holders’ bottom line, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The bridge will facilitate pedestrian movement between the two buildings as well as between the first and second floors. In essence, the bridge will allow City Creek owners to charge premium rents not only for the traditionally reserved street-level store fronts, but for the second level, as well.
However, the success of any institution or business that pours $1.5 billion without taxpayer subsidies should be assured. The question is how protecting business interests infringes on the public and businesses not affiliated with the City Creek project.
The City Creek Center is envisioned not to revitalize downtown but keep shoppers inside the two units as much as possible. It must be stated that City Creek tenants such as Nordstorm are given priority over Main Street local establishments such as Sam Weller’s, Keys on Main and Lamb’s Grill. These and others businesses aren’t likely to see any benefit from the skybridge construction and are left out of the conversation of revitalizing downtown.
Rather than having Taubman and the LDS Church control the “Downtown Rising” conversation, more voices and feedback are needed in the discussion. It is, after all, a city that we all share — everyone needs an equal voice.
There also is a need to look to the past to determine the future. Skybridges were integral parts of master plans in many cities, such as Minneapolis, which has eight miles of skybridges connecting 80 blocks. Now, Minneapolis and other metropolises are examining alternatives or tearing them down.
The one factor almost all cities cite is the decline in retail and pedestrian activity. Gil Penalosa, a noted developer, said skybridges violate the No. 1 urban planning principle: to keep people together.
Although the proposed 130-foot-long and 28-foot-wide City Creek skybridge is not as expansive as other systems, it still sends Salt Lake City back to the past while ignoring the future.
