Cobb Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $10 million construction contract to build the bridge over I-285, between SunTrust Park and the county’s convention and performing arts centers.
The bridge is considered a critical safety element, necessary for safe passage for fans walking to the ballpark along Cobb Parkway and avoiding interstate exit lanes that do not require cars to stop. The bridge also will help keep fans on foot from impeding traffic into and out of the stadium development.
The Braves and county have not made public their parking and traffic management plans for the new stadium, which is scheduled to open in April 2017.
The county has continually muddled the message about the bridge’s cost and completion date over the past two years.
In September, Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee announced to the public that the bridge wouldn't be ready at all for the Braves first season — just two months after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was the first to report that county transportation officials said there was no way the bridge would be open before September 2017.
Then four months later, in January, the Cumberland Community Improvement District called a special meeting, at which they approved spending $5 million on bridge construction and said the infusion of cash would help the bridge be completed in time for the first pitch in the new stadium.
The contract approved Tuesday with Northwest Express Roadbuilders says the project will be completed by Aug. 31, 2017.
But Lee said the bridge is expected to be open to pedestrians by Opening Day, with some cosmetic work left to complete between April and August.
Commissioner Bob Weatherford said if the bridge is delayed, the planned circulator shuttle buses will be in operation and move fans from one side of the interstate to the other.
“I think the plan is the bridge will be open for pedestrians and some cosmetic stuff might still happening to the bridge,” Weatherford said. “The function will be there, hopefully by Opening Day.”
The bridge's cost also has been an issue. Lee initially said the bridge was included in the cost of the stadium, only to amend that later and say the project budget was $6-9 million. The county stuck with that estimate, even as the AJC reported that the cost was much more likely to be in the $12 million range.
The first detailed budget showed costs $2.2 million more than projected.
The cost of purchasing land — known as right-of-way — for the project is still unknown and will add to the total. But the known costs are $10 million for construction; $940,000 for design and engineering; and $56,000 for utility relocation. In addition, the county had to remove a planned $2 million plaza from the bridge project to stay within budget.
Cobb commissioners recently gave the green light for the county's transportation department to use condemnation proceedings to acquire right-of-way if they can't come to agreement with property owners, which includes office park owner and manager Childress Klein, which owns air rights over Galleria Drive.
In an email to the AJC, Lee called the bridge “another example of a successful public-private partnership in Cobb County.”
Go here to see a video of the bridge's design.
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